Another blade in a second
by HotelKatz
Summary: After another trip through the air, Keitaro meets with someone new. But is she who she claims to be?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.

-oOoOoOo-

Once again, an all too familiar act happens. Something slightly perverted happens at the Hinata and Keitaro is sent flying. He landed in a park. Keitaro liked to land in a park if he could, less stares if he decided to lay around.

_'Why can't it ever stop? When can I go through a day where I'm not hit for a mistake?' _Keitaro thought to himself, as he hit the ground.

As he was groaning and trying to get up, somebody was watching him with quite a bit of interest.

_'Thank the spirits, My chance has come!' _the person thought as they walked to Keitaro.

"Excuse me, sir. May I ask you who you are?" Keitaro shuddered as he heard the familiar voice behind him. He turned trembling, only to confirm his fears as he found Motoko standing there, certainly ready to finish the job.

"Motoko! I-If you're here to finish me off, just do it quickly!" Keitaro whimpered as he curled up in a ball.

_'What? But... But how could he...' _the woman thought.

Before she could contemplate further, she heard Keitaro whimper some more.

_'Oh! I get it now!'_ she thought to herself with a smile.

"Sir, I guess you've met my cousin Motoko. I am not she, there is a difference of at least ten years between us. I promise, I will not attack you," the woman said.

Keitaro started to calm down after a bit when he heard that. As he started to get up, he noticed that while she did look like Motoko, she was older. She also was carrying a duffel bag that looked ready to burst. Still, it wasn't hard to confuse the two.

"T-thank you. I'm Keitaro Urashima. I guess Motoko has told you that I'm some big horrible pervert, Keitaro said.

"My name is Tomoko Aoyama. I haven't been at the School of the Shinmei-Ryu for a long time, So I may be a little out of date with whatever has been happening with my cousin," the woman said.

"I would have thought you'd said you were her sister. Shows what I know..." Keitaro muttered.

"It is somewhat disappointing to hear I still can pass for Tsuruko after all this time..." Tomoko replied.

"Who?" Keitaro asked, as he brushed off the dust and dirt from his clothes.

Tsuruko is the name of Motoko's older sister. I take it that Motoko never told you?" Tomoko asked, while tilting her head a little.

"No, she hasn't. She keeps to herself when I'm around. Anyways, what brings you here?" Keitaro replied.

"I am looking around for a place to stay while I'm on sabbatical. Do you know of any?"Tomoko asked.

"Yeah, The Hinata Su! It's currently a girl's dorm because of Granny Hina. She made me the manager while ago." Keitaro answered.

"Ah good! A kind hearted manager such as yourself is a rare find." Tomoko said. Keitaro looked down after she said that.

"You're the first person to say that." Keitaro weakly said.

"Such a shame." Tomoko said as she shook her head. "Shall we head to the Hinata, Urashima-san?"

"A-alright." Keitaro nervously said.

"As I said before, I promise I will not attack you. I might slap you for some transgressions, but I will not chase after you with a sword," Tomoko said. She then regretted saying that when she saw Keitaro stood straight, shivering with fear.

"I apologize for my poor choice in words. I must have forgotten how bad Motoko's temper is," Tomoko said.

When she saw Keitaro calm after a few minutes, Tomoko felt better.

"It's... It's nothing. I'm sorry-" Keitaro said before Tomoko interrupted.

"Please do not apologize or make excuses for my cousin's attacks against yourself! It is a good thing I decided to see my cousin on my sabbatical. To learn that she has been lashing out in anger is troubling," Tomoko stated.

"It's not as bad as you think..." Keitaro said.

"You crash-landed in front of me and shook in fear when I talked about chasing after you with a sword. It is a clear sign that Motoko has been neglecting a certain part of her training," Tomoko said.

"What part might that be?" Keitaro asked.

"Self control and anger management, discipline basically. To learn she has been attacking someone like you is worrisome," Tomoko answered, a bit darkly.  
There was something in Tomoko's tone when she talked a bit about Motoko that made Keitaro curious. A part of him didn't want to ask about it because of his habit of sticking his foot in his mouth, but his inquisitive side won out.

"There's another reason here, isn't there? What is it?" Keitaro asked.

"I lost someone who was a lot like you. Someone he cared about had attacked him in anger and he died from the injuries resulting from the attack. I vowed to make sure it would never happen again if I had a say about it," Tomoko quietly said, as she lost herself in her memories.

"There's no need to fear. I recover fast," Keitaro said, with a slight smile, hoping to brighten the mood.

He was pleased that she did seem to cheer up a little bit.

"Let's talk as we head to the Hinata, shall we?" Keitaro asked.

"I see no problem with that," Tomoko said, as they started to head to the Hinata.

After a few moments of silence, Keitaro thought about whether or not to talk. On one hand, he might gain a friend who doesn't view him as a pervert whenever they could. On the other hand, he might wind up on the business end of her sword.

"How long has it been since you've seen Motoko?" Keitaro asked.

"About ten years. That's how long I've been away from the school," Tomoko said.

"Do you think she'll be pleased to see you if you decide to stay?" Keitaro asked. He still wasn't sure if Tomoko staying was a good or bad thing.

"No, not at first. I suspect she might confuse me with Tsuruko for a time," Tomoko answered.

"Why?" Keitaro asked.

"Motoko's been living in her sister's shadow for a long time. Tsuruko had the title of the heir, but passed it on to Motoko when she married," Tomoko replied. When she saw Keitaro look a bit confused, she decided to simplify it. "A part of Motoko feels abandoned by Tsuruko."

"Oh... So, I guess she's taking it out on me?" Keitaro muttered.

Tomoko saw the look of sadness start to appear on Keitaro' face and she then decided to explain. "No, nothing that simple. She once saw Tsuruko and Tsuruko's boyfriend, Kenshin, kiss each other. That gave Motoko fear of turtles and a hate for boys."

"Wait, How did Motoko get a fear of turtles from seeing her sister and her boyfriend kiss each other?" Keitaro asked.

"Kenshin was wearing a robe that had a picture of a turtle on it at the time," Tomoko answered, a bit sheepishly.

_'That... has got to be the silliest reason for fearing an animal.' _Keitaro thought.

"I'm a little curious, how do you know all this?" Keitaro asked. He could have sworn he saw her eyebrows go up in surprise a little. Then, whatever traces of surprise on her face disappeared quickly.

"Tsuruko told me. By the way, we're at the steps leading to the Hinata." Tomoko said, with a bit of a happy tone in her voice. If Keitaro didn't know any better, she was congratulating herself, but for what?

"That quickly? Huh coulda sworn it was a longer trip." Keitaro muttered to himself.

-oOo-

Naru and Motoko were outside the Hinata, waiting by the door. Both were ready to tear into Keitaro for coming into Naru's room while she was changing. Both were angry from the thought that Keitaro even had the gall to claim Kitsune told him Naru was in trouble. Both were surprised when they saw Keitaro was with somebody while walking up the steps to the Hinata. Well, Naru was. Motoko was backing away in terror.

When Keitaro and Tomoko had reached the top step, Motoko had found her voice.

"Sister! W-w-why are you here?" Motoko shouted.

"I was on sabbatical, Motoko." Tomoko replied. Although no one noticed, the sides of Tomoko's mouth were slightly twitching.

"I was not aware you were on sabbatical, sister. I thought you were with your husband," Motoko said. Motoko had wanted to treat the last word as something foul in mouth, but her fear of Tsuruko overrode her feelings on the matter.

"Hn. It is as I feared," Tomoko said, while shaking her head.

"W-w-what is?" Motoko stammered, fearing Tsuruko would take her back to the school.

"You mistake me for Tsuruko. It is the reason I went on sabbatical for about ten years." Tomoko said.

Motoko blinked a few times when the person in front of her had said they weren't Tsuruko. Motoko had started to calm down when she noticed that the person in front of her only looked a great deal like Tsuruko. So Motoko then asked, "If you aren't Tsuruko, who are you?"

"I am your cousin, Tomoko Aoyama," Tomoko answered.

"I was not aware I had a cousin," Motoko replied.

"When I was younger, I was a bit of a wallflower at the school. Either I was mistaken for Tsuruko, or I was ignored. So I left on sabbatical. It is rather sad that I'm forgettable at the the school of the Shinmei-Ryu." Tomoko said with a shrug.

Motoko knew all too well of life with someone as skilled like Tsuruko. So while bowing, Motoko said, "Please forgive me. I understand somewhat of what it's like to live with someone like Tsuruko."

Tomoko waved it off.

"There is no need to apologize. I should have written to the school at least once." Tomoko said.

"So what brings you here?" Motoko asked.

"I need a place to stay." Tomoko said.

"I ask that you look elsewhere. The manager is currently a pervert." Motoko replied.

Before Keitaro could speak up in his defense, Tomoko spoke up.

"I have something planned if he tries anything perverted, Motoko," Tomoko said. Keitaro whimpered a little.

Motoko began to smile, believing she knew what Tomoko had planned.

"I look forward to it," Motoko said, while looking at Keitaro with an evil smile. Keitaro whimpered even more.

"Whatever, I'm going back to study," Naru said, after watching the two Aoyama women talk to each other and leaving for her room. _'Poor Keitaro! I hope they don't hurt you too badly...'_

Keitaro then sighed as he thought, _'You'd think one of them would offer to help while I have my cast on...'_

-oOo-

Keitaro showed Tomoko around the Hinata. When they reached Keitaro's room...

"May I have this room?" Tomoko said while pointing at room 203.

"Erm... While no one is in there, are you sure that you want a room so close to mine?" Keitaro asked.

"Oh my! So if I have a problem, I don't have to go far to reach you! How fortunate!" Tomoko said, while clasping her hands in joy.

"O-okay. You're going to have to wait a little bit before you can put your stuff in it. I'll let you know when It's clean, since it's been awhile since that room was cleaned. Is that alright with you?" Keitaro asked, as Tomoko placed her bag outside the door to room 203.

"That is acceptable, Urashima-san. I'll go enjoy the hot springs in the meantime." Tomoko said before leaving Keitaro to his duties. Keitaro shrugged before he rolled up his sleeves and began cleaning the room

-oOo-

As Keitaro began cleaning out the dusty supplies that were in the room, Tomoko was making her way to the hot springs. On the way there, she met up with Naru.

"So you're Motoko's cousin? I can see the resemblance..." Naru muttered as she stared at Tomoko.

"Yes, I am Motoko's cousin... Do you have another question?" Tomoko asked, crossing her arms.

"Yeesh... Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you..." Naru answered, backing away a little.

"I'm sorry, Narusagawa. It's been a long day and I wish to try out the hot springs," Tomoko replied.

"Yeah, Dealing with the pervert can take a lot out of you," Naru said, hoping to get come camaraderie out of making fun of Keitaro.

"On the contrary, meeting him was the highlight of my day," Tomoko said, with of a grin.

"You must have low standards then..." Naru muttered. She froze in place when Tomoko glared at her.

"I advise that you do not mock him in my presence again, Narusagawa," Tomoko ordered, losing the smile.

"But-But-But-!" Naru stuttered, backing away a bit more.

Tomoko didn't reply, choosing instead to walk away to the hotspring, instead of risking accidentally riling up Naru's temper.

After Tomoko left, Naru began to calm down. After she was done, she decided to see if Keitaro was studying. When she reached Keitaro's door, Naru spotted Tomoko's bag outside room 203.

_'Odd... Why did she place her bag there? Maybe she chose that as her room?' _Naru thought. She grew angry when she heard some sweeping noises come from room 203.

-oOo-

"What are you doing in Tomoko's room, you pervert!" a voice shouted from behind Keitaro. He turned around and saw Naru was at the door.

"It only just became her room and I'm cleaning it so she can move in. Or would you prefer she move into a dusty room?" Keitaro asked with a little fear in his voice and holding the broom defensively in front of him.

Naru looked around the room from the door. After a few minutes, she sheepishly said, "S-sorry. Just... It's just my reaction when I see you in someone's room by yourself..."

"Would you like to help me clean Tomoko's room?" Keitaro asked, hoping to spend more time with Naru.

"No way, you pervert. I have to go study for Todai, like you should be doing," Naru said before walking away in a huff.  
Keitaro was sad for a bit, before shrugging and getting back to work.

-oOo-

While Keitaro was cleaning the room that was to be Tomoko's, Kitsune and Motoko decided to talk to Tomoko, but for different reasons. Motoko wanted to learn more about the woman claiming to be her cousin, while Kitsune wanted to see if Tomoko was either a stick in the mud like Motoko, or someone who is fun to be with.

"So, you're Motoko's cousin. You could pass for her sister," Kitsune said.

"Yes, yes, I know. I'm getting tired of it already..." Tomoko said tiredly.

"Naru told me you were staying here while on a sabbatical. I'm curious on how long you'll be staying here?" Kitsune asked.

"As long as I choose to be here, hopefully," Tomoko answered.

"Well, let me welcome you to the Hinata, I guarantee it'll never be boring for long!" Kitsune said as she produced a bottle of sake out of nowhere and poured some out in a glass for Tomoko.

As Tomoko reached for her share, she decided to ask a question. "Before we celebrate, how many people live here?"

"Six people. There's myself and Motoko here. You've already met Naru and Keitaro. The other two girls are Su and Shinobu. They're currently at school. Want little old me to tell you about them?" Kitsune explained.

"No, I would rather they tell me about themselves in their own words," Tomoko replied.

"Suit yourself," Kitsune said with a shrug.

"I must inquire about your choice, Why here? Why not somewhere else?" Motoko asked.

"When it was an inn, it was legendary for its hot springs. I am glad they still exist," Tomoko replied, while taking her glass.  
It was then that Kitsune decided to add her two cents.

"And they've gotten better since Keitaro came here!" Kitsune said with a smile.

"I could have gone without the improvement if it meant he wasn't going to live here," Motoko muttered.

"Really? Is that what you really think?" Kitsune asked with a smirk. She knew full well how much Motoko enjoyed the hot springs after training, especially after Keitaro began to keep them clean.

Before Motoko could reply, she realized Tomoko was looking at her, and with a stare that was equal to one of Tsuruko's own. At the moment, the stare was saying, "Tell the truth, now."

"N-no. I prefer the Hot springs as they are now. I can tolerate Urashima's presence for that reason alone," Motoko said, looking away from Tomoko.

"I was speaking with Urashima-san about you on they way here, What could he have done to deserve so many attacks from you?" Tomoko inquired.  
"What lies and slander did he say about me?" Motoko loudly said.

"Lower your voice. He didn't say much about you. At first, he thought I was you and was going to attack him. I would have thought you would have calmed down while you were growing up when I was away," Tomoko said, while shaking her head.

"I am calm! He lies! I am not a hothead!" Motoko said heatedly. Kitsune smirked at the way Motoko was destroying her own argument.

"He never said you were were a hothead. I am deeply disappointed that you are putting words in the mouths of others to suit your own anger. However, I was once a hothead like yourself. I am willing to ignore this one time. But only this one time," Tomoko said, then quickly finishing off the sake Kitsune gave her. "Take my advice, Motoko. Before saying another word, calm down."

Motoko did as Tomoko asked. She took a few deep breaths to do so. After awhile, Motoko spoke again.

"What did he say?" Motoko asked. "So that I may know what to punish him for later."

"He thought I was you. He trembled in fear until I explained who I was. Since your training in self-control is lacking, I have decided to help you in that," Tomoko explained.

When Motoko started to growl, Tomoko decided to say something else.

"Before I leave to see if my room is ready, I feel that I must tell you that I told Keitaro where you got your hate for boys and fear of turtles," Tomoko said while getting up.

Upon seeing Motoko's face going pale. Kitsune said, "Oh my, do tell!"

"When Motoko was younger, she saw her sister and her sister's boyfriend kiss each other. The man in question was wearing a robe with a turtle on it," Tomoko said with a smile. She left, knowing full well that Kitsune would tease Motoko about it.

A few moments after Tomoko left, Motoko turned to look at Kitsune. Motoko did not like what she saw.  
"Turtles, huh? Y'know, I think I have a few pieces of clothing that I've been meaning to wear. They all have a picture of your favorite animal on it!" Kitsune said with an evil smile.

"You wouldn't dare!" Motoko shouted.

Kitsune cackled in response.

-oOo-

While Naru was in her room, she tried to study. Something about Tomoko was bugging her. Naru kept chalking it up to Tomoko being a guest and a relative of Motoko.

'_She's probably not too bad. She's related to Motoko, after all. But then again, Motoko did say she didn't know she had a cousin... But Tomoko did say she was out traveling for a long time and that she was shy when she was younger. Perhaps I should have warned her that Keitaro is a pervert of the highest order? Nah, Motoko can handle it. But... But what if they decide to attack Keitaro together? Oh my god! He'd never survive!'_

She started to get up until she thought to herself, _'Oh wait, He's pretty much immortal. Why should I care?'_

As Naru began to sit back down she heard someone cry out.  
"Uwahh!"  
_'That was the pervert crying out, because he probably tripped and fell on her. Soon we'll hear the standard Aoyama attack for dealing with perverts.'_  
_'Yup... Pretty soon.'  
'Any time now...'  
'What's taking so long?'  
'...'_  
_'Oh my god! He knocked her out and is probably forcing himself on her right now!'_

Naru quickly leapt down the hole that connected hers and Keitaro's rooms and ran to Tomoko's room.

-oOo-

A little while earlier in Tomoko's room...

"That should do it." Keitaro said as he wiped his brow. He was pretty glad that the room only needed to be cleaned and dusted.  
He then heard Tomoko's voice behind him say, "Thank you, Urashima-san."

Keitaro turned around and saw that Tomoko was behind him.

"How long-" Keitaro said before he was interrupted.

"I entered when you stated that it was done," Tomoko replied.

"You don't have to keep calling me Urashima-san. You can call me Keitaro if you want." Keitaro said.

"Thank you again. I believe I will, Keitaro," Tomoko said with a smile. Keitaro was a bit surprised when he noticed how warm the smile was.

"Well, I might as well be on my way," Keitaro said as he started towards the door.

However he didn't make it to the door. He tripped and took Tomoko down with him on the way down.

"Uwahh!" Keitaro cried out.

As soon as he got his bearings, he realized he was face-first in Tomoko's breasts. He got a nose bleed when he realized she didn't strap down her breasts and she wasn't wearing a bra.

He tried to get up, but something was holding him down. He began to panic a little, Until he realized that it was a pair of arms holding him down.

"Keitaro..." Tomoko said, as she continued to hold him down. "If this continues to happen, I will force a task on you..."

Keitaro trembled.

"For every time you get in this situation, or anything just as perverted, and I'm involved somehow... I will make you go on a date with me," Tomoko said.  
Keitaro, both surprised and shocked that he wasn't going to get hit, fainted when he heard her words.

It was then that Naru, Motoko, and Kitsune entered. Tomoko turned her head to face them.

"Oh my, Naru! Looks like you have some competition for Keitaro!" Kitsune said when she saw the situation between Keitaro and Tomoko.

"How dare you force yourself on her, you pervert!" Naru and Motoko cried out, when they saw the situation between Keitaro and Tomoko.

"You misread the situation, girls. He's not forcing himself on me at all. I'm holding him against me. There's quite a difference in intent and action," Tomoko said with a smirk aimed at the three girls.

"But... but... but..." Motoko stuttered.

"Motoko, you think he prefers a woman's behind over her breasts? I think it may be the opposite, but we'll just have to ask him when he wakes up," Tomoko said, while turning her head to look at Keitaro.

"That's not what I was trying to talk about!" Motoko shouted, while Kitsune chucked.

Naru was silent. A part of her wanted to ask what Tomoko thinks she was doing, While another part of her was angry that someone was trying to take Keitaro away from her. Not that she would admit that she liked him in any way.

"I think what Motoko is trying to say is, whatcha doing with Keitaro?" Kitsune said.

"When Keitaro was afraid of me when I first spoke to him and by Motoko's attitude towards him, I realized you were attacking him to stop him from getting into perverted situations. I suspect it has been going on for sometime," Tomoko said.

"What are you talking about? Are you going to help us put a stop to his perverted shenanigans?" Motoko asked.

"In a way. It would seem that giving him pain hasn't helped stop his accidents. Perhaps myself seducing him might help... " Tomoko said, as she stroked the back of Keitaro's head.

"How? All that will do is let him think that he can take his perverted self out on you!" Motoko said.

"If it comes to that, then I will valiantly sacrifice myself to save all of your chastity," Tomoko said with a giggle. She stopped stroking the back of Keitaro's head, so she could put the back of her hand on her forehead in a dramatic fashion.

Kitsune chuckled, while Naru and Motoko turned red from blushing and anger from the thought that Tomoko may be tricked by Keitaro. Motoko started to reach for her bokken at her side, while Naru began to ready one of her Naru-punches. However, their urge to punish Keitaro stopped when Tomoko turned her head to face them and spoke.

"You dare to attack someone while they sleep?" Tomoko said in an icy tone, with a glare to match.

"But-" Naru and Motoko started to say before Tomoko interrupted them.

"No excuses. Leave," Tomoko ordered. "Motoko, I had thought better of you, because you are the heir to the Shinmei-Ryu School. Tsuruko would be ashamed of your actions."

Naru tried to argue, but Motoko pulled her out of the room. When Naru was about to try to convince Motoko to go back, she noticed the look on Motoko's face. It was a look of shame.

"Why did you do that? We need to punish the pervert!" Naru asked.

"She... she looked a lot like my sister, when she glared like that. I think it would be best if we leave him to her for the time being." Motoko quietly said.  
"You can't be serious are you? We could take her, can't we?" Naru said.

"Whether we can or not is irrelevant. Keitaro was unconscious and we were about to attack him. Were we to succeed in our assault, we would be worse scoundrels than he," Motoko said, before walked off.

Naru didn't know what else to do, so she returned to her room.

-oOo-

"You didn't have to get all pissy like that, Tomoko. You'd seen some real fireworks if you let'em hit him," Kitsune said, with a slightly angry tone. Kitsune didn't know if it was from being denied her fun, or seeing her friends get chastised.

"My honor prevents me from allowing such things to happen," Tomoko replied.

"Whatcha talking about? Motoko hits him all the time. Dontcha come from the same school?" Kitsune asked.

"Yes, Motoko and I both are swordswomen of the Shinmei-Ryu. She, however, is becoming lax in how she keeps her honor. I will do my best to correct that," Tomoko answered.

Kitsune had one more question to ask before leaving.

"How long are you going to keep holding him like that?" Kitsune asked, while pointing at Keitaro.

Tomoko looked like she was contemplating the answer for a few seconds. When Tomoko turned her head to face Kitsune, the smile on Tomoko's face suggested she had decided long ago what the answer was.

"Until he awakens," Tomoko said.

"As long as you know he ain't yours," Kitsune replied.

With the smile never fading, Tomoko asked, "Is he dating anyone? With how my cousin and Narusagawa reacted, I do not believe he has one. Therefore, he is free for me to chase after"

Kitsune scratched her cheek while she contemplated the question. "Well...Back off. He's chasing after Naru."

While going back to stroking the back of Keitaro's head, Tomoko replied "I see no need to. Going by what I have seen here, she probably sees him as a servant or a slave."

"There's a bigger reason," Kitsune said.

"And what might that be?" Tomoko asked, with the smile fading somewhat.

"She's his promise girl. They promised to go to Todai together," Kitsune said smugly.

"So they promised to go to Todai together. Does that imply they can only date each other?" Tomoko replied, with the smile now becoming a nasty smirk.

"Not exactly... but that's how they treat it." Kitsune said, really hating that smirk. She was thankful that it disappeared when Tomoko began to speak. Kitsune just wished that Tomoko would stop stroking the back of Keitaro's head as well.

"I believe I might be able to persuade Keitaro to view the promise differently. I do have to ask, Does Naru ever declare that she hates him or wishes that he never came here?" Tomoko asked.

"Whatever, I'm gone," Kitsune said as she left.

Tomoko gleefully smiled at the victory.

-oOo-

A little while later, Kitsune joined Naru in her room.

"Betcha wish you were in Tomoko's place and holding Keitaro, eh, Naru?" Kitsune teased.

"Oh shut up," Naru said. Then the image of her holding Keitaro like Tomoko had entered Naru's head. Naru looked away from Kitsune while trying to hide her blush. Kitsune laughed at the attempt.

"Gonna have to step up your game if you want to keep Keitaro, Naru," Kitsune said said with a sly smile.

"What are you talking about, Kitsune?" Naru asked.

"I think... I actually believe Tomoko is after Keitaro. As in for keeps, just for herself," Kitsune said, as seriously as she could.

"Hey, if Tomoko wants him, she can keep him." Naru said while she turned back to the table to study.

"You're not serious are you? Then again, Keitaro been chasing after you since he met you. So why should you worry, right?" Kitsune asked.

"He's been a real pain in my side since he got here. If Keitaro goes after her, then he won't get in the way of my studying to enter Todai!" Naru said.  
Kitsune shook her head.

"I really hope that's not what you really feel, Naru. Because it just might come true." Kitsune said before she left.

A few moments later, Naru picked up Liddo-kun and hugged the stuffed animal.

_'I don't want you to leave me behind, Keitaro. I really do hope we enter Todai together. And hopefully beyond it,' _Naru thought.

-oOo-

A little while later, Kitsune found Motoko. Motoko was in her room, trying to meditate.

"Just got one question. Don't worry, it has nothing to do with turtles," Kitsune asked.

"What is it?" Motoko replied, while opening one eye.

"Is Tomoko really a part of your family?" Kitsune asked. Motoko opened both eyes and looked down.  
A few seconds passed by before Motoko responded. She looked up before speaking.

"I... am unsure. The way that she holds herself and her clothes is one sign that she may be from the Shinmei-Ryu school, but those can be faked. I will study her actions over the next few days. If I am still unsure that she is telling the truth, I shall contact the school and ask if there is a Tomoko Aoyama," Motoko said.

"Why not skip all that and call them?" Kitsune asked.

"I have... some issues with my sister," Motoko answered.

"They can't be that bad," Kitsune replied.

"What about your family? Why haven't you talked about them?" Motoko asked.

"Touche," Kitsune replied. "I'll leave you to your meditation. Why are you doing it anyways?"

"To calm my nerves. Tomoko's glare brought back some bad memories from when I was scolded by my sister when I was younger," Motoko quietly said.

"Oh... Guess I'll leave your to your thoughts, then. If you ever wanna talk, come by my room." Kitsune said, before heading back to her room.

-oOoOoOo-

A big thanks to my Beta reader, Existential Insanity. He did beta-read the first version of this chapter, but not the current one. When he has beta-read this version, I'll put that up instead.

A round of thanks to brindani for pointing out some errors, mistakes, and a part that didn't flow well. And also for pointing out a bunch more errors.

Thanks to chronodekar for pointing out an error in Kitsune's and Tomoko's conversion. I edited the discussion between Kitsune and Tomoko.

Edit on 3/23/2013: Re-read the manga and discovered that Keitaro didn't meet Tsuruko before the time period that this takes place around on, which is around chapters 71 and 72, So I changed that part of the chapter to the old one.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.

-oOoOoOo-

As he was starting to wake up, Keitaro thought, _'Soft, warm pillows...'_

He smiled for a brief moment, before he opened his eyes. Instead of seeing his white pillow, he saw blue-ish grey cloth. Almost instantly, he fully woke up and jumped away.

"Sorry-sorry-sorry!" Keitaro loudly said, as he curled up in a ball.

"Urashima... I am not my cousin. I did say I will not attack you. At most, I might slap you," A friendly voice said, coaxing Keitaro to calm down a bit. When Keitaro looked up, he saw Tomoko get off the floor.

"Sorry... It's... It's a force of habit..." Keitaro replied, nervously swallowing some air.

"One I intend on helping you deal with, if you want me to..." Tomoko said, as she straightened out her clothes.

"Surely you have something better to do, like help Motoko?" Keitaro replied, as he got up.

"Before I can help Motoko with anything, she has to ask first," Tomoko said, as she looked over her clothes. Upon seeing the bloodstain on her clothes where Keitaro had a nosebleed, Tomoko asked, "Could you step out for a minute? I'd like to change."

"S-sure," Keitaro muttered, as he left the room.

As Keitaro shut the door, Tomoko muttered to herself, "Now what to wear?"

-oOo-

As soon as Keitaro closed the door, he was kicked down.

"Hello, Su..." Keitaro said, as he slowly got up.

"Heya Keitaro! Whatcha doing outside this room?" Su asked.

"Our newest resident asked me to step out of her room for a little bit," Keitaro answered.

"Is it anyone I know? Do they have any bananas?" Su asked.

"I don't think so. Does the name, 'Tomoko Aoyama' ring any bells? Did Motoko talk about her at all with you?" Keitaro asked back. Su thought for a few moments.

"Nope, but what about the bananas?" Su answered.

"I doubt she has any at the moment," Keitaro replied.

Su was about to say something else, when Tomoko's door opened up. Keitaro and Su turned their heads to look. Tomoko was wearing a a sweatshirt and sweatpants. They were a bit baggy, but not enough to hide her figure.

"What? These are just some clothes I'm comfortable enough to relax in. Do you have any problems with my clothes?" Tomoko asked.

"No problems here!" Keitaro quickly said, putting his hands up in a placating way.

Su stayed silent as she studied Tomoko.

"Yes, what is it?" Tomoko asked, as she looked over at Su. Though it was only for a moment, Tomoko did see a serious look in Su's eyes.

"Do you have any bananas?" Su asked with a bit of childish glee in her eyes.

"No, but maybe tomorrow," Tomoko replied.

"Aw shucks!" Su pouted. She stopped for a moment before saying, "I'm Kaolla Su, who are you?"

"I'm Tomoko Aoyama. I'm a cousin of Motoko," Tomoko replied.

"Huh... Why hasn't she said anything about you?" Su asked, tilting her head a bit.

"I've been away from her for a long time," Tomoko answered.

"Why?" Su asked.

Before Tomoko could answer, Su sniffed the air.

"Sorry to cut it short, but Shinobu is making dinner and I wanna help!" Su said, as she ran off.

"Lively, isn't she?" Keitaro asked.

Tomoko nodded as she had a wistful smile on her face. For once, Keitaro noticed a detail like that.

"Something you wanna talk about?" Keitaro asked. The look on Tomoko's face quickly disappeared.

"N-no! It's alright! I'm just... enjoying how energetic Su is!" Tomoko quickly answered, waving her hands a bit. "A good deal of teenagers her age are a bit too... mopey and quick to complain."

"Yeah, she's energetic, alright..." Keitaro muttered a bit, as he rubbed the spot where Su had kicked him.

"Is something the matter?" Tomoko asked, with a look of concern.

"No, no, everything's alright..." Keitaro replied. When he looked at Tomoko, he saw that she had a slightly stern look on her face. Feeling that she wouldn't let him get away from the question, Keitaro said, "She kicks me either because it's how she greets me or because it's a game to her."

"Since it appears you don't enjoy it, have you talked with her about it?" Tomoko asked.

"I'm afraid she'd pull the puppydog eyes trick on me, if I tried asking her to stop it," Keitaro explained.

"Even so, you should still try to ask her to stop it. What if she decides to do it to someone else?" Tomoko asks, as she crossed her arms.

"I'm the only one that she does it to," Keitaro replied with a sigh.

"So ask her to stop, before she kicks someone else as a way of greeting them," Tomoko said back.

"I don't want to be mean..." Keitaro muttered, looking away from Tomoko's gaze.

"Sometimes, being a bit mean by telling someone to stop is better than letting them do something that might wind up getting them into trouble," Tomoko said.

"Look, Naru and Motoko would punish me if I tried anything..." Keitaro replied, with some slight anger.

"If you want, I'll protect you from them, should you decide to tell Su to stop kicking you in the head," Tomoko said ,with a smirk.

"What are you going to do?" Keitaro asked, not liking Tomoko's smirk.

"Should they try to stop you from stopping Su from kicking you, I'll tap them on the sides of their heads once a day until Su stops kicking you," Tomoko answered.

"I won't allow you to hurt them," Keitaro said, narrowing his eyes a bit.

"It will be far less painful than Su's kicks and they won't fall down. Shall I demonstrate?" Tomoko asked.

Keitaro nodded.

Tomoko then vanished and Keitaro felt a bit of a hard tap on the side of his head. When Keitaro looked, Tomoko was standing at the side where he had felt the tap.

"Well... it's more annoying than anything else... I don't approve of it, but I won't stop you..." Keitaro said.

"Good! Let's head off to the living room!" Tomoko said, putting her arm around his and then dragged him to the living room.

-oOo-

However, Tomoko and Keitaro reached the living room at the same time as Kitsune. Upon seeing Tomoko, Kitsune had a slight glare.

"Is there a problem?" Tomoko asked.

After taking a breath, Kitsune said, "Nah, just looking you over. You really don't seem like a person that wears sweats. Motoko doesn't."

"I think they're comfortable, so I wear them," Tomoko replied, as she released Keitaro from her grasp.

"Shinobu's the cook around here. So you might want to let her know what you'd like to avoid in a meal," Kitsune said, pointing her thumb towards the kitchen.

"Perhaps I might as well see if she requires any help," Tomoko said to herself.

After Tomoko left the room, Kitsune stepped right up to Keitaro.

"Will you at least remember that you put a lot of effort into going after Naru? Or have you dumped her for a Christmas cake already?" Kitsune hissed in a whisper, not wanting to attract more attention than necessary.

"She grabbed _me_! I didn't think of putting up an effort to stop her until we came here from her room," Keitaro whispered back. Before Kitsune could reply, Keitaro said, "Or have you forgotten how hard it is to physically stop Motoko?"

"But Tomoko ain't Motoko," Kitsune muttered.

"Tomoko is older and stronger. Possibly more skilled!" Keitaro whispered.

"You better watch out then. She'll have an easier time killing you when you have one of your accidents," Kitsune replied, crossing her arms with a smirk.

"...She said that if I get into more accidents with her, she'll force me to go on a date with her," Keitaro quietly whispered.

Kitsune blinked her eyes a few times.

"She ain't gonna hurt you?" Kitsune asked, not quite believing what Keitaro said.

"She said she might slap me, but that's all she said she might do," Keitaro whispered.

Kitsune blinked a few more times, even shaking her head to get out a few mental cobwebs.

"I... I think Motoko or Naru might've hit you a few too many times in the head... go lie down on the couch, Keitaro, and relax for a bit..." Kitsune muttered, pointing at the couch.

"But-" Keitaro said, before Kitsune interrupted him by pointing firmly at the couch.

"Sit!" Kitsune ordered, with some steel in her voice.

With some reluctance, Keitaro did as Kitsune ordered. Kitsune then sat in a nearby chair, continuing to stare at Keitaro.

"Is something the matter, Kitsune?" Keitaro asked.

"Normally, when you've been hit into the sky, you don't talk of getting rewarded for your accidents..." Kitsune answered. "I'm worried about you."

"Why show concern now?" Keitaro asked with a frown.

"Hey! Don't be like that! I care about you!" Kitsune said, with a touch of indignation in her voice.

Keitaro then sat up. He was about to say something, but then decided against it and let out a breath of air instead. Kitsune easily noticed it.

"Speak your mind, Keitaro. Therapist Konno is here to help!" Kitsune declared, with a smile.

"No, I think I'll just wait for dinner," Keitaro said, crossing his arms and looking down.

_'Dammit, he's clammed up, like how Naru_ _does sometimes...'_ Kitsune thought, as her smile turned into a frown.

-oOo-

_Half an hour later, when Keitaro, Motoko, Su, Sarah Naru, Kitsune, and Shinobu were sitting down at the dining table..._

"Thanks for taking Su off my hands, Ms. Tomoko," Shinobu said.

"It was my pleasure. I enjoyed the chat with her while we went to the store to get her some bananas," Tomoko replied.

"You didn't ruin your appetite, did you, Su?" Shinobu asked.

"Still have plenty of room in my belly. I only ate a few bananas. Tomoko refused to let me have the rest that she bought," Su answered.

"I didn't see you pass by the living room..." Kitsune said.

"We snuck out a window like we were spies! A bit of a so-so game with how we did it," Su replied.

"Anything else happened, Su?" Motoko asked.

"Nope, there wasn't enough time for anything," Su said, in between bites. "But don't worry! I'll make up for it tomorrow! I have a new Mecha-tama I want to try out!"

Keitaro looked at Su and Motoko with a slight look of exasperation. When he looked at Tomoko, her eyes seemed to say, _"do it" _in a supporting way.

But Keitaro shook his head, and there was some weariness showing in his shoulders. It wasn't in

_'Maybe I'll confront Su about her kicks and inventions tomorrow. Hopefully before she fires off a shot...'_ Keitaro thought.

Tomoko let out a barely noticeable sigh. Her eyes widened for a moment as she seemed to realize something.

"I do apologize for running off and making you clean the room while you have a cast, Mr. Urashima," Tomoko said.

"It's alright. The room needed to be dusted," Keitaro said.

"I admire your determination towards your duties as a manager, but you should have spoken up. Therefore, while I am here, I insist that I help you around the house with your duties," Tomoko said.

"Really, it was no problem..." Keitaro replied, trying to wave in a placating way.

"I insist..." Tomoko flatly said.

"W-well... if you insist..." Keitaro muttered with a bit of fear in his voice.

"You don't have to do that, Tomoko. He doesn't need our help." Naru interjected.

"Helping others in need is a basic rule of the Shinmei-Ryu... Isn't it, Motoko?" Tomoko said, in a way that made Motoko worry a bit.

"All he had to do was ask and I would have helped," Motoko replied, while avoiding looking Tomoko in the eyes.

"And yet, you acted in a hotheaded manner when I arrived a little while ago, not even feeling sorry when I pointed out your actions from some quick observations," Tomoko said, narrowing her eyes a bit.

"..It's complicated and I would not like to ruin a good meal," Motoko replied in a slightly quiet voice, while making small gestures towards Shinobu.

Tomoko looked at Shinobu and was a bit shocked to see Shinobu shake a little bit. Tomoko reached out and put a hand on Shinobu's shoulder.

"I apologize for my outburst of anger, Miss Maehara." Tomoko said, in a comforting voice. "I do not know what came over me, but I will do my best to better control my temper at the dining table."

Shinobu stopped shaking and smiled a little.

"...Thanks..." Shinobo replied.

As everyone went to chatter about this and that, Tomoko sent Motoko a glare that said ,_"We will talk in due time."_

Motoko did her best to suppress the involuntary shudder of fear that her body tried to make.

-oOoOoOo-

Author's note: Thank you, brindani, for pointing out some errors that I made in the last chapter. I made a few corrections and added a short scene in the last chapter.

I'm going to be aiming for 2000-3000 per chapter and adding a new chapter every other week. While it does mean that the chapters won't be as long as the first chapter, the positive side is that the uploads will be a bit more frequent.

Quite a few of you have correctly guessed what I'm doing with Tomoko. I'm proud of you guys for that and also proud of the reasoning you guys used. I'm not going to say who got it right and which theory is right, but you did inspire me to do something. When this fic is done. I'll pick a chapter and head down an alternate path that goes with one of the other theories. Or I might give another person permission to do so.

I'd like to suggest the second fic that I read on this website so long ago. If you got a chance, go read "Fracture" by Mercaba. That fic is what made me go read the Love Hina manga.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.

-oOoOoOo-

When dinner was done, everyone went off to do their own thing. Naru went off to study. Kitsune grabbed Motoko's arm and dragged her out. Su and Shinobu went to watch TV. Keitaro went to go for a bath.

"Urashima, do you need any help washing up?" Tomoko asked, following him.

While continuing to walk away, Keitaor answered with, "I'll be alright, Tomoko."

"Are you sure? " Tomoko asked, with a slightly sensual smile.

"Yes..." Keitaro muttered, while sounding a bit tired. Tomoko's slight verbal attack on Motoko was still bothering him.

Somehow knowing that she would not get anywhere, Tomoko then inquired, "Then can I at least stand guard to prevent anyone from walking in on you?"

"No one will walk in on me..." Keitaro replied, as he got near the room with the washtub.

"Still, I would like-" Tomoko said, before Keitaro interrupted her by quickly turning around and staring at her.

"Why did you tear into Motoko like that?" Keitaro asked as he was glaring slightly.

"... Let's just say I know people like her too well. Someone has to stand up to them," Tomoko replied.

"Stand... Stand up to her? You just bullied her at the table! She didn't even do anything to you!" Keitaro said, taking a step towards Tomoko.

Tomoko was visibly surprised by Keitaro's words. She thought back and tried to remember what Motoko did at the table that angered her, but cursed herself when she remembered that it was Naru's words that annoyed her enough to pick on Motoko.

"I apologize, Urashima. It seems that even staying away from the Aoyama compound hasn't dulled my temper all that much..." Tomoko said, while looking away in shame.

"Will you at least apologize to Motoko?" Keitaro asked, taking another step.

"I... I will... in the morning. You can trust me with that," Tomoko said, as she went to stare Keitaro in the eye. Keitaro was surprised to see a mix of emotions in Tomoko's gaze. There was worry, fear, and warmth in her eyes. "You're braver than you first seemed, Urashima. Not many people would stand up to someone like me for their friend, while they're injured."

Keitaro paused for a second as he thought about Tomoko's words. He then shook in fear for a second, before saying, "I'm... You're more honorable than someone who attacks blindly, right?"

With a slight laugh and smile in an attempt to calm Keitaro, Tomoko said, "I try to be."

A few seconds passed, before Keitaro said, "Alright... "

Tomoko watched him enter the door where his washbin was behind. When he closed the door, she thought to herself, _'He didn't say I couldn't stand guard...'_

She then sat down on the floor and meditated a little to pass the time.

-oOo-

When Kitsune had dragged Motoko out of the dining room, Motoko loudly asked, "Konno, where are you dragging me off to?"

"Hush, Motoko. Don't want anyone following us!" Kitsune answered as she dragged Motoko out the door of the Hinata. After stopping briefly and quickly looking around, she then whispered, "We're gonna use the phone in Haruka's!"

"What for?" Motoko asked.

"To call your home!" Kitsune said, before trying to drag Motoko. Unlike before, Motoko refused to budge.

With a stern voice, Motoko replied with, "I said I might call in a few days time, after I had studied her actions. "

Kitsune stared at Motoko for a few seconds.

"But if she's a fake, isn't better to find out now, instead of later?" Kitsune asked, letting go of Motoko's arm.

As Kitsune tried to pout to get Motoko to do what she wants, the swordswoman narrowed her eyes.

"I have faith in my observation abilities to detect a fake," Motoko declared, as she started to turn around.

Kitsune's pout gained a slight angry edge.

"And what if she is a fake? The time you take to find out, might be enough time for her to hurt one of us, if she's a fake," Kitsune said. Motoko stopped in place.

"...Fine... I'll call," Motoko muttered. Kitsune smiled a little bit, before Motoko said, "But if no one answers, That's it for the day."

-oOo-

When Haruka saw the two walk in a short time later, she asked,"What brings you two here?"

"Motoko needs to call home for a bit," Kitsune answered. Motoko was choosing to look at the floor.

Raising an eyebrow, Haruka then asked, "Why not the Hinata's?"

"Motoko may or may not have a relative visiting," Kitsune answered. "We wanna make sure of it and we don't want her knowing."

Haruka stared at Kitsune for a few seconds in silence.

"...Alright, just don't call for too long. Otherwise, I'll bill you for it and I will collect the money myself. You hear me?" Haruka asked, as she picked up a broom and started sweeping.

"Gotcha..." Kitsune muttered in a slightly nervous tone.

Motoko walked over to the phone, picked it up, and dialed.

After a few seconds, she said, "...Hello, it is Motoko. I would like to speak to my sister."

"..."

"How long ago?"

"..."

"Are you sure?"

"..."

"Then do you at least know if I have a cousin named Tomoko? One that been on sabbatical for a long time?"

"..."

"Fine, I'll ask her when I see her. Goodbye."

Motoko then hanged up with a sigh.

"Well?" Kitsune asked.

"According to one of the caretakers, my sister is coming to visit me," Motoko replied. Kitsune noticed that Motoko had a look of resignation.

"I'm guessing from the past part of your call, you weren't able to find out if you-know-who is your cousin?" Kitsune asked, as she took a few steps towards Motoko.

"I did find out that I do have a cousin Tomoko, and she is on sabbatical..." Motoko trailed off.

"...But something feels off about the person up in the Hinata to you," Kitsune finished.

"A little bit, but I could chalk it up to not meeting Tomoko before today,. When my sister gets here, I can ask her for confirmation," Motoko replied.

"What if Tomoko is Tsuruko?" Kitsune asked. Motoko narrowed her eyes.

"I doubt it. No one can create a mask that can make them look like another person," Motoko answered. A cough made Kitsune and Motoko stare at a smirking Haruka.

"Don't be too sure of that, I know a few people that have made masks that can do that," Haruka said.

"You got proof?" Kitsune asked placing her hands on her hips.

Haruka nodded, before walking behind a counter. She bent down out of side. There was the sound of rubber being stretched before a snapping noise was made. When Haruka stood up, Kitsune and Motoko were shocked to see that Haruka was wearing a mask that made her look like Kitsune.

"This proof enough?" Haruka asked. The two girls slightly nodded. As she then took the mask off, Haruka said, "If it is Tsuruko making herself look like someone else, an excuse of being a cousin is a bit of a poor one, unless she decided she couldn't quite hide her abilities for some reason."

"Tsuruko?" Kitsune asked, with some confusion in her tone. Before Motoko could answer, Kitsune said, "Oh, that's your sister's name!"

"Yes... Now I must be off," Motoko said as she walked away. Kitsune followed after her.

"Where you headed?" Kitsune asked.

"To the roof of the Hinata, to train," Motoko answered.

With a small sigh, Kitsune followed her to the Hinata. Kitsune thought about watching a few races on the TV, but decided against it. She had a bit of a backlog of articles to write before their deadline.

-oOo-

Naru tried to study, but her thoughts kept going back to seeing Keitaro on top of Tomoko.

"Damn pervert... I bet he tricked her..." She growled. Then when the memory came when Kitsune suggested that Tomoko was after Keitaro.

Naru quickly shook and slapped her head.

"No way... Even if that was the case... He'd refuse her..." Naru muttered, with a slight smile. "After all, he admitted that he loves me and I..."

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped.

"...Ran away..."

Once again, she shook and slapped her head.

"No way would he leave me for that! If the roles were reversed..."

Naru then contemplated that scenario. When she imagined admitting her love to Keitaro and him then running away... an angry snarl crossed her lips and her hands curled themselves into shaking fists.

"N-no! Bad idea! Stupid idea! I was stupid to even think that! I must've spent too much time around that lazy, good-for-nothing daydreamer!"

And the scene repeated itself a few more times until Naru fell asleep.

-oOo

Shinobu was a bit surprised when Su didn't put up much of a fight for the TV. In fact, all Shinobu had to do was ask and Su just handed her the remote. Normally Su pouted, pleaded, and begged to watch her shows, which involved explosions, turtles, or cooking shows. The first one Su usually found amusing because she liked to claim she could make a better explosion. The last two, she liked to look hungrily at.

So when Su spent most of the evening just staring out into space, Shinobu began to get worried.

"Su, is everything alright?" Shinobu asked, when Su was concentrating more on the floor than the TV.

"...Huh? Oh, yeah... Just thinking about something," Su answered, quickly looking up at Shinobu with one if her usual grins. Unfortunately for Su, Shinobu was able to recognize it as a sign that Su was trying to hide something.

"...Su..." Shinobu muttered, in a slightly stern tone.

"What?" Su asked, as she tilted her head a little.

"What are you planning?" Shinobu asked.

"Nothing..." Su answered.

"Su..." Shinobu said, leaning towards Su in an attempt to be a bit menacing.

"Fine, I'll tell you, but keep it a secret from everybody, especially Tomoko," Su said.

Shinobu thought about it for a few seconds before muttering, "...Fine..."

"I'm planning on spying on Tomoko. Something seems off about her. Dunno if it's good or bad, just seems off," Su explained.

"I'm going shopping tomorrow. You and I could bring Tomoko with us. If she tries anything, we can just yell out for help. Whose the crowds going to believe? Two young girls crying out for help or a woman dressed in a Hakama?" Shinobu asked. When Su spent longer than Shinobu expected, Shinobu said, "The answer is the two young girls, Su."

"...Oh, I knew that! I was wondering if you knew!" Su replied. "But why bring her out with us tomorrow?"

"She might know how how to act in the Hinata. If we were to remove her from this place for a few hours and study how she acts, we might discover that she is a fake!" Shinobu said.

"Ah, great idea!" Su cheered. Then she realized that Shinobu came up with that idea. "Shinobu, is everything alright?"

Shinobu looked a bit confused before replying with, "Yeah, Why do you ask?"

"You don't usually come up with this stuff," Su answered.

"...I guess... How Tomoko talked to Motoko over dinner brought bad memories..." Shinobu quietly said.

"And if we can find a way to get Tomoko kicked out or for her to behave herself, the better," Su finished.

Shinobu nodded.

"Don't worry, Shinobu. I'll make sure that everything will be alright. I promise," Su said, looking serious for once.

Shinobu smiled a little.

"Thanks." Shinobu replied.

-oOo-

The slight sound of clothes being rustled around let Tomoko know that Keitaro was getting dressed. A few times, Keitaro let out a worried gasp, Tomoko was ready to rush in and help him. But she stopped when Keitaro let out a calm mutter.

_'I guess it is quite difficult to dress oneself with a cast...'_ Tomoko thought.

When Keitaro opened the door, he was a bit surprised to see Tomoko sitting across the hall. Some seconds of silence passed.

"Is everything alright, Ms. Aoyama?" Keitaro asked.

"Yes. As for why I'm here, it is to prevent anyone from rushing in to the room you were in and calling you a pervert," Tomoko answered as she stood up. '_I guess losing my temper at dinner is still bothering him...'_

Keitaro wanted to argue that the tenants of the Hinata weren't that bad, but too many memories of the scenario Tomoko spoke of came up in his mind.

"...Thanks..." Keitaro muttered.

"Is there any tasks you have to do before going to bed?" Tomoko asked.

"No, not really. I kinda plan on watching the stars out on the roof for a bit before going to bed," Keitaro answered, as he walked away to the roof.

"Motoko went to train on the roof while you were taking a bath," Tomoko replied. Keitaro sighed in response.

"Guess that means I should just head to bed," Keitaro muttered, stopping in place to turn around.

"Why?" Tomoko asked, as she walked up to Keitaro.

"Or head to the second floor and watch the stars though one of the windows in the back," Tomoko said, as she walked besides Keitaro.

"Nah, I'm just going to go to sleep," Keitaro replied.

Keitaro was shocked when Tomoko vanished.

"Awww! Whyja do that?" Su's voice asked.

Keitaro turned his head a bit to look behind him. Tomoko was holding Su, who was in a flying kick pose.

"Mr. Urashima is recovering from a broken leg. Is it wise to risk further injuring him?" Tomoko asked.

Before Su could answer, Shinobu appeared and interrupted with, "No, Su, it isn't."

As Tomoko put Su on the ground, Shinobu asked.,"Ms. Aoyama, could you please come with Su and I tomorrow, when I go shopping?"

Tomoko thought for a few seconds before replying with, "Only if Mr. Urashima can come with us."

The three girls looks at Keitaro.

"But I..." Keitaro said, before sighing in a defeated manner. "...fine, I'll go."

"Hurray! You won't regret it!" Su cheered, before grabbing Shinobu's hand and running off.

-oOoOoOo-


	4. Shopping, part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.

-oOoOoOo-

_As everyone sat down for breakfast on the following day..._

"So what are you planning to do today?" Motoko asked Tomoko.

"I plan on going shopping with Shinobu, Su and Mr. Urashima," Tomoko answered, before taking a bite of her breakfast.

"You sure about that? He still has a cast on his leg. Might not be a good idea to put any unneeded stress on it," Kitsune said, trying to sound a bit worried.

"If I notice him having trouble moving about, I'll offer to help, either by helping him move or by carrying him," Tomoko replied. When she heard Keitaro sigh a little, she looked at him.

"You don't need to do that. I'll be fine," Keitaro said, sound a bit embarrassed at the thought of being carried.

"Yeah, don't try to lower his pride by treating him like a baby," Naru muttered.

"And what if he tries groping you while you carry him?" Motoko asked, narrowing her eyes at Keitaro.

Tomoko smirked.

"Then I'll simply say, 'Mr. Urashima, please wait until we're back at the Hinata. Or until we can get a room at a love hotel'," Tomoko said in an obviously joking manner, surprising everyone else at the table, enough to spit out some food.

"Keitaro!" Naru growled, as almost everyone else was coughing a little. She started to get up, but was stopped by Tomoko slightly hitting the table to get her attention.

"Narusagawa, I was speaking of a hypothetical situation. Keitaro is too much of a gentleman to do something like that willingly on his own," Tomoko said.

"You have no idea how many times he had his hands on us!" Naru replied in an angry manner.

"Ms, Kaolla Su, do you record any of the events around here?" Tomoko asked.

"Yup! Almost all the time!" Su cheerfully answered.

"Then could I watch a few videos of the events that Ms. Narusagawa is referring to?" Tomoko asked.

"Yup! I'll even bring some popcorn and we can all watch!" Su answered.

Naru and everyone else at the table's mouth opened a little in surprise.

"You're kidding... Right, Su?" Naru asked. Su shook her head no.

Kitsune was hiding her grin as she thought of all the blackmail opportunities she may have missed over the time Keitaro has spent at the Hinata.

"Kei-Keitaro isn't allowed to watch any of it!" Naru exclaimed, as she quickly remembered a good deal of the situations were she was nude when Keitaro had one of his accidents.

"Don't worry, I don't wanna look at any of them..." Keitaro muttered, as watching himself getting beat up didn't seem like fun.

Unfortunately for him, Naru took his comment the wrong way. She thought that he meant that he found the idea of looking at her body to be boring or something.

"What do you mean by that?" Naru asked in a low, yet threatening manner. She even curled her hands into fists.

Quickly realizing that Naru was getting ready to hit him into the air again, Keitaro made placating gestures as he said, "It's not what you think, Naru! I just don't want see myself getting hit in the videos!"

"Oh..." Naru muttered as she went back to eating like she didn't do anything wrong. Tomoko excused herself from the table a few seconds later.

The rest of the meal went in either silence or some rambling about the day.

-oOo-

When Naru was about to enter her room, She felt a light tap on her shoulder. A quick glance back showed that it was Tomoko.

"Aren't you going to apologize, Ms. Narusagawa?" Tomoko asked., as she glanced at Naru.

"For... what?" Naru asked in a genuinely confused tone.

"You made threatening motions towards Mr. Urashima," Tomoko answered.

"I don't see the need to," Naru replied.

"What if it was one of the girls and you made the same gestures?" Tomoko asked, but in a tone that suggested she saw the answer coming.

"I'd apologize, but Keitaro's a pervert! There's no need to apologize!" Naru said.

"Ms. Narusagawa, if I discover that you apply the same punishment to all of the crimes that you claim Mr. Urashima has done, then I will be... upset..." Tomoko replied, as she went back to the dining room.

"What are you talking about? He's a pervert through and through," Naru muttered. _'But he's my pervert, you lousy Christmas cake!'_

"Ms. Narusagawa, if you treat someone like a thief long enough, there's a good chance they'll either leave or become a thief," Tomoko said. She opened her mouth to continue, but Naru interrupted.

"But Keitaro is not a thief!" Naru loudly replied.

"Ms. Narusagawa, let me finish, " Tomoko said with a slight sigh of disappointment. "If you treat Mr. Urashima like a pervert, you will lose him. From what I've seen of him since I've been here, He's clumsy at most."

"You don't know anything!" Naru angrily said.

"If you find me ignorant, then enlighten me," Tomoko replied, with a slight shrug.

"Why bother? You probably are too thickheaded to listen to reason!" Naru muttered as she entered her room and closed the door.

-oOo-

About a half-hour later, Su, Shinobu, Tomoko, and Keitaro left the Hinata. Kitsune was watching the TV at the time, but had heard the door close. She quickly got up and went to the door. She peered out of it and saw the group head down the long stairs in front of the Hinata.

"Damn..." Kitsune muttered as she then headed towards Naru's room. Kitsune then knocked on Motoko's door and Naru's.

When the two hot-headed girls opened their doors, Kitsune said, "Shinobu and Su went shopping with Tomoko and Keitaro."

"Your point?" Naru asked, as she crossed her arms.

"Let's go after them and spy on them!" Kitsune said with a smile.

"I fail to see why we should..." Motoko replied. Kitsune opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Naru.

"To make sure that the pervert doesn't do anything. And if he does, We'll use it against Tomoko," Naru said.

"Exactly my point! Let's go!" Kitsune said as she and Naru headed downstairs.

Motoko sighed, but decided to follow after them. She knew that events in the Hinata had a way of forcing the unwilling into participating sooner or later.

-oOo-

Tomoko, Shinobu, Su, And Keitaro were walking along the market place. While there was a bit of a worry that Su might run off for some reason or another, that was quickly squashed by Shinobu making Su promise to make sure that Keitaro would be alright during the shopping trip. So Su stood near Keitaro.

"So what's the first on the list?" Tomoko asked.

"Some fruits, vegetables, and bread," Shinobu answered. When Su opened her mouth, Shinobu quickly said, "And yes, that means more bananas."

Su smiled and nodded a little. Keitaro flinched a little, expecting Su to run ahead.

"Is there any specific place you go to, Miss Maehara?" Tomoko asked, as she watched Keitaro relax a bit when he realized that Su wasn't going to run off.

"The place I usually go to is a little bit ahead," Shinobu replied, pointing to an average store in question. "They're pretty fair with the prices and they didn't get mad when Su forget to pay for some bananas once time."

"That's because I fixed their washing machine when it broke down from wear and tear!" Su cheered.

Tomoko slightly smiled as she said, "They sound more forgiving than I expected to. I'm guessing that they made you promise to remember to pay because they might not have something for you to fix next time."

"Yup!" Su replied.

_When they entered the store..._

a little golden bell announced them as the group streamed through the door. The fragrance of blossoms and fruit welcomed them as their eyes roved over ripe golden apples, ruby red cherries, and bananas... a whole section dominated by the yellow fruit that had Su transfixed. A rustling by the counter drew everyone aside from Su's attention as a young man with short, but wild brown hair stood, brushing off his worn out jeans. He smiled as he noticed them standing there

"Hello, Shinobu, Hello, Su!" The male store owner said. His body seemed a bit thin, but strong. There was little signs of burn scars on his arms.

"Who's with you?" The female store owner asked. Her long brown hair was reminiscent of a fan and somehow seemed held in place by a pink headband. She had green eyes She had a Skull medallion around her neck.

"This is our landlord," Shinobu said, pointing to Keitaro. She then pointed to Tomoko and said, "And this is the newest tenant."

"Ah, Welcome to Moriko's!" The Female storeowner said with a slight cheer in her voice.

"I take it you're Moriko?" Tomoko asked. The female store owner nodded.

"Shinobu told us about some incident you had with Su," Keitaro said, as Shinobu and Su walked off to grab some of the things on the list.

"Yeah, She seemed remorseful about forgetting to pay. She had a flying metal turtle and she talked a bit about how she built it. Since she knew what she was talking about, I decided to let her pay me back by repairing something," Moriko replied.

"Yeah, that's what they told us," Keitaro said. He then realized something she said. "How... how do you know what she's talking about?"

A sweardrop appeared on the back of a nervous Moriko's head as she chucked a little bit.

"Well, when I was younger, I liked to build things and I still do. Unlike Su, most didn't have artificial intelligence, only about 40 did." Moriko answered.

"I bet Su asked to see them, right?" Keitaro replied.

"Yes, but I told her that they were in stasis and in storage until I could redesign their batteries, so they wouldn't go boom with a good solid knock," Moriko said.

"That and when we have a better place, so the 40 robots don't have to worry about knocking into each other.

-oOo-

The two-thirds of the terrible trio were actively trying to remain inconspicuous in a bus stop near the store. Motoko felt little reason to hide behind some people who were waiting for the bus, but was forced to by Naru and Kitsune.

"So they went into some corner store?" Naru asked.

While looking through a small spyglass at the store, Kitsune nodded.

"Is the pervert doing anything?" Naru asked, with some strain in her voice as she tried to look over another person's shoulder.

"Nope, and neither is Keitaro," Kitsune replied with a smirk.

"I was talking about him! Who did you think I was referring to?" Naru grumbled.

"Tomoko, because she pretty much smothered him with her boobs the other day," Kitsune saif with a chuckle.

"I bet he tricked her!" Naru growled.

"Nah, I think she's trying get her hands on him. After all, he's probably going to inherit the Hinata sooner or later. Maybe she wants to wants to own it and make Keitaro into her boytoy?" Kitsune asked.

"That's probably the stupidest thing you could have come up with," Naru muttered.

"And highly improbable. An Aoyama would not stoop to such things," Motoko said, glaring at Kitsune.

"Didn't she say she was on sabbatical for ten years? A lot can happen during that time and people can change," Kitsune replied, ignoring Motoko's gaze.

"I doubt it," Motoko said.

"Kitsune, do you have any more telescopes?" Naru asked, as she thought she saw something happen at the store.

"Yeah... Just a... Wait, Tomoko's grabbing a pair of melons... Now she's showing Keitaro them while holding them near her chest... And whatever she just said made Keitaro get a nosebleed. Betcha ten to one that she asked Keitaro if they were big enough," Kitsune commented as she looked through her spyglass. "Girl needs to back off. She's trying too hard..."

"Let me see! Let me see!" Naru quickly said, as she tried grabbing the spyglass.

"Hold your horses!" Kitsune said, as she brought out another small spyglass and handed it to Naru. Naru quickly grabbed it and began looking at the store though it.

"Where is he?" Naru asked as she glanced left and right rather quickly.

"Open up your ears! He's passed out on the floor because of Tomoko!" Kitsune said in an exasperated manner.

"Oh..." Naru quietly muttered as she watched Tomoko reach down and pick up Keitaro. He had a slight red mark running down from his nose. "... Guess you were right..."

Motoko opened her mouth to say something, but a bus pulled up at that very second and Kitsune noticed that Tomoko, Su, and Shinobu were heading out of the store.

"Girls, hide!" Kitsune said.

Taking the first option, the trio went onto the bus and paid their fare. To their discomfort, it seemed a bit too crowded. They then hoped that their targets wouldn't take the bus. When Shinobu led the others to another store nearby, Naru, Kitsune, and Motoko sighed in relief. Before they could pull the cord to be let off, the other passengers maneuvered a bit, somehow preventing the Hinata trio from pulling the stop cord.

-oOo-

"So what else is on the list?" Keitaro asked, After he regained consciousness.

"We just have to pick up some fish here and then we can go back to the Hinata," Shinobu answered.

"Shall I help with the bags?" Keitaro asked. Tomoko was looking at the bus, as it seemed to be a bit rowdy.

"No, it's alright. I don't want to make it harder for you while you're still using crutches," Shinobu replied.

"Whatcha looking for, Tomoko?" Su asked, interrupting Keitaro's reply; and also getting his and Shinobu's attention

"Is it just me or is that bus a bit too crowded?" Tomoko answered, as she pointed in the direction of the bus.

"Seems like it..." Keitaro muttered. "Why did you point it out anyways?"

"I wanted to make some small talk," Tomoko replied.

"Oh..." Keitaro muttered.

"Well, shall we continue on our task?" Tomoko asked. The others nodded.

-oOo-

Author's note: Even though I was aiming to do a chapter that would set up some things for down the line, this feels like a filler chapter to me.

Edit : A round of thanks to brindani for pointing out the mistakes and errors


	5. Shopping, part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.

-oOoOoOo-

Su frowned as the group left a store. Tomoko was carrying quite a few bags along with Shinobu. Keitaro had on a backpack that also has a few things in it.

"You didn't have to hold my mouth shut..." Su muttered to Tomoko.

"Ah, but you did try to eat some fruit before we could buy it," Tomoko replied. "And furthermore, you shouldn't have tried to bite my hand. You have no idea where it's been."

"It was over my mouth and I was hungry," Su said, looking away.

"And let me guess... It had nothing to do with you getting angry with me for getting in your way?" Tomoko asked in sarcastic tone.

"Yup!" Su answered, as she looked back at Tomoko with a closed-eyed smile.

_'Yeah, right...' _Shinobu and Keitaro thought.

"How's your tongue? It must have hurt when you bit it after I took my hand away," Tomoko asked with some concern in her voice.

"It's alright. I heal fast. Not as fast as Keitaro does!" Su said with a giggle. Keitaro shivered a bit, as memories of being shot at by various machines and weapons created by the banana-devouring inventor went through his head.

"Ms. Aoyama, thank you for the money you lent us, I had no idea that the price of banana's had gone up so much or I would have brought more money with me. " Shinobu quickly said, when she noticed Keitaro shivering in fear.

"Where'd you get it, anyways?" Su asked.

"Oh, just a few odd jobs here and there, some well-paying bodyguard duties, great luck with the lottery... (cough)undergroundfighting(cough)," Tomoko answered, covering her mouth at the last part.

"What was that last one? I didn't catch it," Keitaro asked.

"I said there are puppies and turtles in the pet shop," Tomoko said.

Keitaro and Shinobu suddenly found their hands captured. Without warning, Su dashed with the two still attached leaving Keitaro to frantically hop after as both the groceries and his crutches went by the wayside. Tomoko picked them up and waited at a nearby bench.

As soon as she sat down, Su came rushing out.

"I take it he needs these?" Tomoko asked, as she held out Keitaro's crutches. Su nodded and then took Keitaro's crutches to him.

-oOo

The bus stopped near a park and the Hinata trio managed to make their way off the tightly packed bus.

"Why was that packed so much? You'd think there was some superstar having a concert!"  
!" Kitsune muttered as she tried to catch her breath. During the bus ride, more people had gotten on and she nearly was squished between Naru and Motoko.

"I do not know..." Motoko muttered.

"Who cares? Where are we?" Naru asked as she looked around.

"A few blocks away... Wouldn't be surprised if this was where Keitaro was knocked to the other day..." Kitsune answered, as she had caught her breath.

"Who cares? Let's head back and make sure that nothing happens to Su or Shinobu!" Naru ranted, as she began heading in the direction of the shops. Kitsune then faced the gates of the park

"Y'wanna see if we can find the crash site?" Kitsune asked.

"What would it prove?" Motoko asked back, as she started to follow Naru.

"I dunno... I had a hunch to go search...?" Kitsune asked, as she put her arms behind her head and loosely meandered after Motoko.

"We have better things to do with our time than to go off to search because you had a hunch!" Naru loudly said.

"Damn... I hate it when your temper works against me, Naru..." Kitsune quietly muttered under her breath.

It was then Motoko had a cold chill down her spine.

"Oh Spirits... Not him..." Motoko said, as she stopped and reached for her Bokken.

"What is it? Is Keitaro near by?" Naru asked, hoping that was the case.

"No, it is not.. Urashima would be preferable..." Motoko replied, as she scanned the area.

Before Kitsune or Naru could say anything, a voice called out, "Oh Mistress of kendo! It is I, your beloved Tatewaki Kuno!"

As Kuno ran out of an alley. Naru and Kitsune saw that Kuno was somewhat covered with garbage. Kitsune guessed that the jerk had been knocked into the air and had landed in a dumpster. Looking back, they flinched as they found the usually reserved woman's eyes flared, her mouth twitching down as her hand seemed to instinctively draw itself to her sword. She looked more like a demon of wraith that had been reshaped by fury, instead of a human. It made all the times that she had been angry at Keiaro look like she had been more annoyed than angry.

"Stone-Cutting Sword!" Motoko yelled out, with far more hate than she ever shown to or about Keitaro. The technique looked larger, but also more unfocused As one would expect, Kuno was knocked into the air and far out out of sight.

Kitsune observed that Motoko was out of breath, since it seemed that she put more energy than usual into attacking.

Naru, who had been shocked into calming down when she saw Motoko's face, went to ask, "How bad a pervert was he?"

"I would rather be at the whims of a drunken, horny Urashima for the rest of my life than to spend a second with Kuno!" Motoko yelled as she turned to stomp towards the shops where Keitaro and the others were last seen at.

"Woah..." Naru uttered. Kitsune then tugged at Naru's shirtsleeve a little bit and both then followed after Motoko.

Holding back a chuckle, Kitsune thought, _'While I don't doubt that What's-his-name is that big of an asshole, I do believe Motoko accidentally told us the plot of one of her hidden stories. Kind of a meh story... just went on and on and got boring...'_

"Do you think we'll see him again?" Naru asked, in a slightly worried tone. Kitsune was able to tell there was slight bits of anger in Naru's gestures.

"Eh, we can always sic Su on him if he appears again. Hell, Keitaro might be glad that someone else is the target of her machines!" Kitsune said with a chuckle. Naru also chuckled a little bit at the idea.

-oOo-

Su, Shinobu, and Keitaro walked out of the petshop. Shinobu and Keitaro looked a bit pleased, but Su was frowning.

"None of the produce were bruised by the fall. ," Tomoko said. Shinobu and Keitaro sighed in relief a little bit. "So did you enjoy what you saw in the pet shop?

"The cats and dogs looked cute," Shinobu replied.

"The turtles were low quality, not worth even thinking about making recipes about," Su muttered.

Tomoko blinked a few times. She had been expecting Su to be grumbling about not being allowed to eat the turtles.

"Everything alright?" Keitaro asked, a bit curious at Tomoko's reaction.

"I'm a bit surprised at what Miss Su said..." Tomoko muttered.

"Oh yeah, I don't think that we told you that she tries to eat turtles... Mostly, it's Tama she's after..." Keitaro said.

"Now that's a high quality turtle!" Su cheered, even twirling around a little.

"...And we didn't expect her to frown upon the turtles in the shop," Keitaro continued. _'I guess I can be thankful that we avoided an incident that would have wound up in us being banned from here...'_

"So where to next?" Tomoko asked.

"Well, we have to get some milk, eggs and a few other things," Shinobu answered, as she took back the bags she was previously carrying.

"If Su calls one of her machines that I saw fly by my room last night to bring back the groceries, can we shop for some clothes for Motoko? I don't think she has enough cute clothing," Tomoko said with a smile..

"I don't think we should..." Keitaro muttered.

Before Su or Shinobu could give their answer, there was a 'whoosh' sound overhead. The group looked up, but saw nothing

"What do you think that was?" Shinobu asked. She then noticed the frown on Tomoko's face.

"A fool that deserves to be thrashed," Tomoko replied, as she and the others then began to walk on their way to continue finishing the groceries.

_'Like what Naru or Motoko say about me...' _Keitaro thought, as he let out a depressed sigh. Tomoko shifted the groceries that she was carrying to one hand.

"And before you continue to put yourself down, Mr. Urashima, you are better than the one that was flying over us," Tomoko said, as she placed her free hand on Keitaro's shoulder.

Shinubo and Su smiled a bit when Keitaro cheered up a little.

"...Thanks..." Keitaro muttered.

"It seems Mr. Urashima is still in a sad mood. There is only one thing we can do," Tomoko said, as she faced Shinobu and Su.

"Let him try out some new inventions?" Su asked. Shinobu shook her head at Su's suggestion.

"No, I go buy some new clothing for us and we all model them in front of him," Tomoko said.

"I don't think that'd be a good idea..." Keitaro said, trying to walk away from Tomoko, but unable to break away from her hand on his shoulder.

"Nonsense. It'd be good fun for all of us and we could pick up some clothes for the others at the same time," Tomoko replied.

Shinobu closed her eyes and then had a fantasy of wowing Keitaro away from Naru with an attractive outfit that took Keitaro's breath away.

Su merely planned on either wearing something that would wind up getting a nosebleed out of Keitaro or saying something that does. The only sign of this was a devious feeling showing in her eyes.

Keitaro sighed after he looked at the two younger girls. He didn't want to disappoint Shinobu, nor did he want to risk upsetting Su when she looked like that.

"...Fine..." Keitaro said.

Tomoko smiled as she said, "but first, there's something I'd like Mr. Urashima to see before we can make him blush."

-oOo-

_Half an hour later..._

The slight travel from the park to the shops where the Hinata trio last saw the others went along a bit quietly.

"Eugh...Wugh... I'm about ready to pass out..." Kitsune muttered as she leaned against a fence blocking an alley.

"Then take it as evidence to exercise more!" Motoko said in an annoyed tone. The twitch in her brow had disappeared, but the woman's eyes seemed to scan each corner they approached, her hand unconsciously moving to her sword.

"Hey! Don't take your anger out on me!" Kitsune quickly replied, glaring at Motoko.

"Motoko, how did you meet that pervert?" Naru asked, hoping to diffuse the situation. Motoko turned away from Kitsune and Naru.

"I met him at a kendo competition. That is all I will say," Motoko icily answered.

Naru was about to ask more, but Kitsune placed her hand on Naru's shoulder. Naru looked at Kitsune, who shook her head. Kitsune then glanced at Motoko's hand for a second. Naru followed her gaze and noticed that Motoko's hands were curled into shaking fists.

"...Oh..." Naru muttered. "Let's... Let's take a few seconds to calm down..."

"I suppose you're right..." Motoko replied, before closing her eyes to do a quick meditation.

"Where'd you think they'd be?" Naru asked, as she took out the spyglass she had from Kitsune.

"If it was me, I'd go to a clothing store and make Keitaro faint!" Kitsune said with a chuckle

"I doubt it..." Motoko said.

"Then why is Shinobu looking at some t-shirts?" Naru asked, as she took out the spyglass that Kitsune gave her out of her pocket.

Motoko opened her eyes and saw that Naru was pointing. She followed and saw that Shinobu was indeed looking at some shirts.

"...Perhaps she wanted to replace some clothes that were burned up in one of the explosions that Su caused?" Motoko asked.

"Let's make sure..." Naru said, as she took out the spyglass and looked for any signs of Keitaro.

Kitsune let out a sigh of relief.

"A bit glad you remembered you had that. I don't wanna risk getting banned from that store, so don't go all 'uppercut to the sky' if he is in there," Kitsune said.

"Hey! Don't act like my first reaction is to hit him!" Naru grunted.

No one spoke for over a minute, making Naru put away the spyglass.

"Why didn't anyone say anything?" Naru asked in a eerily flat tone, while not looking at Kitsune and Motoko.

"Er... Uh..." Motoko muttered as she looked around for something to distract Naru.

"Name one time that he was in a compromising situation and you listened to what he had to say," Kitsune said.

"Well! There's... There's the time we thought Keitaro had raped Mutsumi!" Naru quickly said, as anger entered her voice.

"Pheh! That was a kangaroo court if I ever saw one!" Kitsune replied, as she crossed her arms.

"Hey! You're just as guilty as me, Kitsune!" Naru angrily said back. She then looked at Motoko and said, "You too, Motoko!"

"You riled me up back then! You're more guilty than I am!" Motoko said, as she opened her eyes and glared at Naru.

"Bullshit! Didn't you tie Keitaro to a pole and try to kill him? So much for your honor! I bet you're an even bigger pervert than he is!" Naru yelled, before stomping off to the clothing store.

"Naru, wait! What the hell got into you? You don't normally have that short a temper!" Kitsune called out as she chased after her angry friend.

Motoko grasped the handle of her bokken and contemplated about attacking Naru for insulting her honor. After a few moments, she sighed and decided to head back to the Hinata.

-oOo-

Behind the fence where Kitsune had leaned against, Tomoko and Keitaro had been hiding there and listened to the Trio's argument.

"There's gotta be something I can do about her anger..." Keitaro muttered to himself. He had been a bit curious when Tomoko took him to the fence and ;eapted ofer it. When he thought he heard Naru. he was about to say something about hiding and listening in on a conversation being wrong, but Tomoko covered his mouth and made a 'shh' noise to shush him.

"Mr. Urashima, sometimes you can do nothing in this situation, even if you want to do something. No matter how much you help, until Naru changes her perspective on life. Nothing will change. She must first recognize that she needs to change. One does not change something about themselves that they see as normal behavior," Tomoko said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"No, there's gotta be something that I can do!" Keitaro exclaimed, shaking off her hand.

"Mr. Urashima... Listen to me and listen to me well," Tomoko said in a cold tone, one that got his attention. "When someone gets mad easily and it is a real part of who they are, get out before the situation gets out of hand. Do not make the mistake of marrying the person if they are a boyfriend or girlfriend. Love does not conquer all. Likewise, do not take the constant abuse in the name of family or friendship. Do yourself a favor and walk away if someone gets mad easily and refuses to seek help. No one deserves this type of mental abuse, and it does not have to happen."

"But the promise-" Keitaro said, before Tomoko shut him up with a glare.

"Do you want to help her or do you want to fulfill your promise?" Tomoko asked.

"Can't I do both?" Keitaro asked.

"If you want to help her, you must be willing to walk away if the situations calls for. That is something I doubt you'll be able to do if you are her boyfriend, due to your kind nature," Tomoko answered.

"But we've been through so much together!" Keitaro said, trying to glare at Tomoko.

"Then choose to stay at a friend level. It can mean just as much," Tomoko replied.

"It won't to me!" Keitaro loudly said.

"But it will to her," Tomoko replied. "She'll have a male friend whose close enough that she can trust, but distant enough for her liking."

"But-but the promise!" Keitaro said.

"What was the promise?" Tomoko asked.

"That we'd get into Tokyo University together!" Keitaro said.

"And have you?" Tomoko asked, tiling her head a little.

"Well, yes, but..." Keitaro trailed off, trying to think of a way to say what he hoped would come out of the promise without sounding odd.

"You were hoping that the tale where two people who love each other go to Tokyo University, they'll live happily ever after to hopefully be true?" Tomoko asked.

Keitaro's pseudo-glare then became an actual glare as he asked, "so what? Are you going to mock me for believing it?"

"Living happily ever after does not always mean marriage. If you really care about her, then choose to be a friend," Tomoko answered.

"But I admitted my feelings to her!" Keitaro said with a bit of anger in his voice.

"And how did she respond?" Tomoko asked.

"She's... She's just shy!" Keitaro loudly said, almost shouting. "And stay out of matters that don't concern you, or I'll make you leave the Hinata!"

"Very well, I'll keep my comments to myself, unless asked. I do wish to congratulate that you were able to fulfill your promise," Tomoko replied. "Shall we head back to the stare where Shinobu and Su are?"

"I can get there myself!" Keitaro muttered as he took the long way back, which involved walked around behind a building. After watching Keitaro walk away, Tomoko sighed before hopping over the fence.

-oOo-

Shinobu looked over a cute shirt when she heard Naru loudly call out to her.

"Shinobu!"

"Na-Naru!" Shinobu said, as she jumped a little.

"Where are they? Where's the pervert and the hag?" Naru asked, as she quickly walked over to Shinobu.

"Tomoko had something to do that she needed Sempai for, so they left us here. They promised to be back," Shinobu answered.

Naru looked left and right, before asking, "Where Su?"

"In the back..." Shinobu said, before Naru walked to find Su. It took only a quick scan of the store to see that Su was at a counter in the back that had a lot of cloth materials.

"So how about this padding? Will it be better than the stuff you currently use?" the store employee asked as she held up some heavy padding.

Su felt and squeezed the garment a few times.

"While it doesn't seem to chafe as much, I'm a bit concerned with how long it can deal with being pressed before going flat... " Su muttered, before giving the padding a seriously strong squeeze.

"Well, we do have a couple of free samples that you can test to see if it is sufficient for your needs," the employee replied.

"That'd be great!" Su said.

"Please wait a moment. They're behind the counter," The employee replied, as she reached down and brought up a small bit of the heavy padding.

"What are you doing?" Naru asked.

"Oh, just seeing if I can replace the padding for the inner lining of some of my inventions. The current stuff works, but is a bit itchy at times," Su answered.

"And how are you going to pay for it?" Naru asked, as she put her hands on her hips.

"Tomoko gave us some cash if she isn't back before we decide to leave," Su said.

Before Naru could ask more, she heard the door open. She took a quick look and saw Keitaro and Tomoko enter.

-oOoOoOo-

Author's note: I tried to make it less 'filler-ish'. To any of those that were annoyed by the slight author tract during the Keitaro and Tomoko conversation in the alley, I apologize.

And to those that disliked the Kuno scene, I apologize, but it was easier to use him than to create up a character for that scene. As for why I wrote it, it was to hopefully set things up in a far later chapter, depending on how things go in this fic. I doubt I'll have Kuno re-appear any time soon before then.

Edit - Another round of thanks to brindani. Go read their fanfics.


	6. Shopping arc end

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.

-oOoOoOo-

Naru walked away from Su and made her way to Keitaro.

"Where have you been?" Naru growled, as she got in Keitaro's nervous face. Naru then felt someone tap on her shoulder. When she turned, she saw Tomoko standing right besides Keitaro.

"He and I needed to go see something. It didn't take along and both Shinobu and Su are mature enough to be left alone for a little bit," Tomoko said.

"But you should know what he is by now," Naru muttered.

"Yes, I have," Tomoko replied, making Naru smirk and Keitaro flinched a bit away from Tomoko. "He is a kind man who is protective of those he considers friends."

Naru lost her smirk and blinked in confusion a little bit.

_'So I threaten to throw her out and she defends me? What is she aiming for?' _Keitaro thought, as he looked at Tomoko.

When Naru opened her mouth to reply, Tomoko said, "If you believe that he is a pervert, then move out and don't associate with him."

"Hey! Don't get into matters that don't involve you!" Naru growled.

"Perhaps you're right, but one thing still remains. If you dislike him and feel that he is a threat to you, then move. Better to pay a bit more to avoid unwanted trouble," Tomoko replied, as she crossed her arms. "And besides, Motoko is a relative of mine. So the situation does loosely concern me."

Keitaro opened his mouth to defend himself and Naru, but Naru spoke up first.

"I was at the Hinata before him! He should leave!" Naru loudly said. Keitaro flinched a bit.

_'I thought we had gotten past this...' _Keitaro thought with a frown.

"Mr. Urashima, how did you come to be the manager?" Tomoko asked, as she faced Keitaro.

"Granny Hina put me in charge after I arrived there..." Keitaro muttered. Tomoko was about to turn to face Naru, but had a few more questions for Naru.

"For what reason and why did she leave?" Tomoko asked.

"She wanted to go on a world-wide tour," Keitaro said.

"Hey, Don't ignore me! Granny Hina was a far better manager than you! She never should have left!" Naru said. Tomoko barely hid a smirk as she faced Naru.

"Going by the fact that she doesn't have many years left, are you saying that she should give up what may be her goal in life, just to please you?" Tomoko asked.

Naru took a step back and stammered, "N-No... I'm not s-saying that at all.. I-I meant to say that she should have left us in charge...

"So you meant to say that she should have been irresponsible enough to leave you all without a manager in case of any problems?" Tomoko asked, narrowing her eyes for effect..

"N-no! You misunderstand again! Haruka should have still been manager! She should have never given the job up" Naru answered, while trying to look stern.

"I understand that she runs the teashop by the Hinata and being the manager of the Hinata is a bit of a full time job, what with repairing, maintenance and such. I'm guessing that she gave up a lot of her free time for it. Are you saying that she should give up her free time, just to keep you happy?" Tomoko asked.

"N-n-n-no! You keep misunderstanding me!" Naru angrily pouted.

"Then enlighten me," Tomoko asked. Naru then took a deep breath, hoping to calm her nerves. It didn't

"W-w-well you see..." Naru nervously said. She tried to continue, but was unable to find the words. So rather than try to defend herself, She pushed Tomoko and Keitaro out of the way and ran.

"Was doing that to Naru really necessary?" Keitaro asked, as Tomoko quickly looked him over for any injuries.

"She doesn't like to make mistakes, but has serious problems with facing issues she doesn't want to face," Tomoko answered, as she put her arms back down.

"Don't we all have problems with dealing with issues that we don't want to face?" Keitaro asked.

"Yes, we all do, but she ran and you tried to face what I said in the alley," Tomoko replied as she began walk. "Now let's see what Su and Shinobu found."

"You're really pushing your luck, Tomoko..." Keitaro muttered.

"Then consider this, Mr. Urashima, envision in your mind the same situation that you went through since you came to the Hinata, but reverse the genders. Just imagine Naru and the other tenants as males and you as a female, but every event that happened wound up being the same," Tomoko said, in a slightly solemn tone.

He wanted to argue, but there was something in Tomoko's tone that made Keitaro decide to do as she asked. Keitaro closed his eyes and tried to do as Tomoko asked. Tomoko watched as Keitaro shivered and shook, as the growing look of disgust appeared on his face, as little signs that he was getting ready to vomit from the mental images that he was having. After a little bit, Tomoko grabbed his shoulders and shook him a little bit.

"Y-You could have just told me to stop, y'know..." Keitaro said, but in a manner that told Tomoko that he was very bothered by what he imagined. "Why did you ask me to imagine that?

"From your body language, I saw that you had a very active imagination. One that you could put some use with art," Tomoko replied, as she let him go.

"You're trying to avoid my question. Why did you ask me to imagine that?" Keitaro asked, trying to summon up some will to look stern.

"Because it got the message through to you than anything else," Tomoko answered, in a more solemn tone than before.

"And that message is... what? That I should avoid Naru and the other tenants?" Keitaro asked, in a tone that had some anger in it.

"No... The message that abuse is abuse, no matter the gender. The only way I could get that through to you is with that hypothetical situation because of your protective nature," Tomoko replied.

While still a bit indignant at her for driving off Naru, Keitaro started to calm down.

"There are better ways you could have done that," Keitaro grumbled.

"But would you have listened sooner?" Tomoko asked.

Before Keitaro could reply, Shinobu walked up to the two.

"I found some clothes," Shinobu said. Her expression seemed either forced or a bit troubled.

"Ah, good. Would you care to show us?" Tomoko replied.

"Y-yeah, They're over here..." Shinobu said, as she began walking to where she was before. Tomoko and Keitaro followed after her.

-oOo-

When Naru ran out of the store, she passed by Kitsune, who was still slightly out of breath.

"Aw dammit... I gotta... I gotta... exercise more..." Kitsune muttered as she started to chase after Naru. She then started to yell, " Naru! Naru! Slow down!"

If Naru had heard Kitsune, she didn't slow down. If anything, she ran even faster.

When Naru turned around a corner, Kitsune slowly came to a stop and muttered, "Aw fuckit... I'll talk to her later..."

A few minutes later, Naru was stopped running when she tripped over something. She had hit the ground with enough force to cause her nose to bleed. As Naru sat up and took out a handkerchief to deal with the nosebleed, she looked at that tripped her. Naru grumbled when she saw that it was Mutsumi that she tripped over. When Naru tried to get up to run, she fell over when Mutsumi latched onto her legs.

"Weggo mah lugs! Naru said. She grew annoyed at the fact that pinching her nose messed up with how she said her words. Somehow it was enough to wake Mutsumi up

"Huh? Wha... Oh... I fainted again... Silly me..." Mutsumi said, as she sat up and rubbed her eyes with one hand. Her other hand was still holding onto Naru's leg.

"Weggo!" Naru muttered as she shook her leg.

"Oh, Naru... Why are you holding your nose and talking funny? Mutsumi asked, as she let go of Naru's leg.

"Uh hit mah noose wahen Uh tripped ohvah yoo..." Naru muttered as she asn Mutsumi stood up. When she was about to run away again, Mutsumi grabbed Naru's free hand.

"Something's bothering you, Perhaps I can help you?" Mutsumi asked, in a way that made Naru feel a conflicted with her desire to run and the want for some help.

After a few moments, Naru muttered, "Fune..."

"There's a nice cafe nearby. It's nowhere near as good as Haruka's teashop, but still pretty nice to go to," Mutsumi said ,as she lead Naru to the place in question.

After sitting down, getting some tea, and Naru's nose stopping bleeding, The two sat in silence for a bit, as each one waited for the other to start the converstion.

Deciding to break the awkwardness, Naru asked, "Am I selfish?"

"I don't think you are, Naru," Mutsumi replied. She tilted her head a little bit and asked, "What brought this on?"

"I think the newest tenant at the Hinata accused me of being selfish..." Naru muttered, refusing to look Mutsumi in the eyes, choosing instead to look at her tea.

"Oh? The Hinata has a new tenant? Who is she?" Mutsumi asked.

"Her name is Tomoko. She's a relative of Motoko's, but she seems a bit protective of the pervert..." Naru grumbled. "You should have heard what she said to me at the store...

"What did she say exactly?" Mutsumi asked.

"I told her that Granny Hina should have been the manager still, but then she acted like I was selfish to want her to," Naru answered as she put her arms on the table. "...But the way she acted, I guess I was a little bit..."

Sensing there was a bit more, Mutsumi stayed silent, even though she wanted to comfort her friend.

"Then I suggested that Granny Hina should have left us in charge and Tomoko asked is Granny Hina should have been irresponsible enough to do so in case of something bad happens. Then I tried to say that Haruka should have been manager and Tomoko asked if it was fair to demand that Haruka should have given up her free time..." Naru muttered as she slumped down to rest her head on her arms.

After thinking about what Naru said, Mutsumi put a hand on Naru's shoulder and said, "... While I do see what Tomoko is trying to defend Keitaro's position as manager, it does seem like she's trying to goad you into a fight or to say something wrong."

"I ran away... And after the incident at the hospital..." Naru said. But she winced when she realized what she had just said.

"Oh? What incident?" Mutsumi asked as she smiled a little bit and took her hand away from Naru's shoulder..

"Nothing! Nothing happened!" Naru quickly said.

Mutsumi's smile grew a big bigger as she cheerfully said, "Did Keitaro admit his feeling to you?"

Instead of saying something, Naru chose to hid her head from Mutsumi.

"And I bet Keitaro was so happy when you admitted your feeling to-" Mutsumi said, before she heard something from Naru.

"... I ….didn't... I ran..."

Mutsumi tried to put her hand on Naru's shoulder to comfort her, but Naru flinched away.

"I ran, Mutsumi! I ran! I'm a coward!" Naru said, with her voice giving signed that she was about to cry.

"You're a shy girl, Naru-chan, Keitaro understands that," Mutsumi replied in a comforting voice. "He's willing to wait."

"Heh! Not when Tomoko is trying to trick him into shoving his head into her breasts! That trick is easier than tricking water into taking the shape of a pitcher!" Naru muttered in a dark tone.

"Does that mean you've tried it a few times?" Mutsumi asked.

"Let's... Let's just go back to the Hinata..." Naru answered after a few seconds. She didn't look up, but it would be easy to guess that Naru's face was blushing as red as a tomato.

"Are you sure, Naru-chan? Or would you like to stay at my place in the Teashop?" Mutsumi asked.

"Can I avoid Haruka as I come in?" Naru asked in a flat tone.

"Yes, I know a way..." Mutsumi replied with a nod.

-oOo-

Shinobu was feeling conflicted. As much as she wanted to find out if she could find a way to discover if Tomoko was a fake and get Motoko to punish Tomoko and have Keitaro throw her out, Shinobu was starting to soften up a bit to Tomoko. It was a point in Tomoko's favor when Tomoko prevented Su from kicking Keitaro in the hallway. Shinobu wasn't sure if the conversation just now would either prevent the punishments or leave an awkward feeling about them whenever they're viewed in hindsight.

At the moment, Shinobu was mindlessly looking at some shirts as she pondered the situation, while Keitaro and Tomoko were nearby.

"Mr. Urashima, do you agree the shirt with the chibi-kitten is still cute on someone like me?" Tomoko said, holding the shirt in front of herself.

"It's alright..." Keitaro replied, only glancing momentarily at her. Tomoko frowned.

_'I pressed too hard and he's clamming up now... But I should still be patient,' _Tomoko thought.

As Tomoko put the shirt back, Su walked up.

"I bought a small bit of padding," Su said, holding a full bag.

"Why did you buy padding?" Keitaro asked, as she faced her with a confused look on his face.

"To hopefully replace the padding that I currently use in some of my inventions. That one is good, but is really itchy and kinda chafes after awhile," Su answered.

"Oh..." Keitaro replied. " I hope it's good enough then..."

"I hope so too, But I gotta test it out to make sure..." Su said, as she looked at the bag. Keitaro shuttered a little bit, as he worried about Su re-using some of the old inventions to chase after him.

"Do remember that you'd promise to show me those videos, Miss Su," Tomoko said.

"I won't forget..." Su muttered. Then her eyes opened up a bit as she said, "Popcorn. We need to get some popcorn."

"But we have enough at home..." Shinobu said.

"Kitsune finished it off when she watched a movie marathon last weekend," Su replied.

"But she couldn't have finished it off by herself!" Shinobu said with a little whine.

"I know, so I helped her," Su replied with a grin.

"Su!" Shinobu said with a higher whine.

-oOo-

After the group made their way back to the steps leading to the Hinata, Keitaro had told the others that he wanted to go speak with Haruka. Tomoko had taken the groceries that Keitaro had been carrying before he walked away.

As the bell above the door rang, Haruka looked at who was entering.

"Hey, Keitaro, No one's here right now, so what's eating at you?" Haruka asked as Keitaro sat down at a table.

"Am I wrong in letting the girls hit me?" Keitaro asked as Haruka sat besides him.

"Are you doing anything to deserve it?" Haruka asked back.

"I trip and fall, I walk in at the wrong times, the girls walk in at the wrong times, The girls mishear and misread any situation..." Keitaro said with a sigh. He slumped down a little bit.

"Yeesh... It sounds more like you need to grow a backbone or something. What brought this on?" Haruka asked.

"Tomoko took me into an alley, she said I needed to hear something. IT turns out the Motoko, Kitsune and Naru were following us. They started to blame some of the past events on each other and me. Then Tomoko acted like I was in an abusive relationship with Naru... and I'm starting to think she is right..." Keitaro answered.

"So what did the newest resident say that started to convince you?" Haruka asked, as she crossed her arms.

So Keitaro told her when Tomoko asked him to mentally switch around the genders. On a whim, Haruka decided to close her eyes and try it out for herself.

Keitaro watched as Haruka bit her cigarette in half.

"Bothers you too, doesn't it?" Keitaro asked when Haruka opened her eyes and seemed to be trying to burn a hole in the table with her eyes.

"You... you can take the stuff they throw at you without it all bothering you too bad, right? You're a man, after all.." Haruka asked. She realized that she had asked the wrong thing when Keitaro looked shocked and a bit disgusted at her. When he started to get up to leave, she quickly said, "Keitaro, wait!"

"We-'ll-We'll talk later... I need some time to calm down..." Keitaro muttered in a way that suggested that he was holding back tears. But as soon as Keitaro got to the door, Haruka had got up and grabbed his shoulder to prevent him from leaving. "Haruka... Just let me go... We'll talk later..."

Haruka winched a little bit when she noticed that he didn't refer to her as Aunt. In any other situation other than the current one, she'd be pleased as punch.

"Look, Keitaro... I don't know what happened today to make what I said bother you-" Haruka said, before Keitaro interrupted her.

"It's the feeling that I have that if I were a girl, you'd step in to protect me..." Keitaro muttered.

"You're a guy. Do you really want me to make you look like a wuss in front of the girls?" Haruka asked.

"They think I'm a weakling, a pervert, a thief, an interloper, a sicko, a good-for-nothing... If being seen as a wuss meant that I'd have someone in my corner, I'd be willing to take it at this point..." Keitaro answered, slumping a little.

"Hey... I'm not going to fight your battles for you. You gotta have-" Haruka said, before getting interrupted again.

"I'm not asking that! I'm just asking for some support!" Keitaro loudly said, with a slight tone that he was about to cry.

"Why about those two friends of yours? Why not have them back you up when you get into trouble?" Haruka asked with a hopeful smile.

Keitaro was silent for almost a minute.

"I'm going back to my room," Keitaro quietly said in a defeated tone as he broke away from Haruka.

After Keitaro left the teashop, Haruka felt like she had let Keitaro down.

"He's an Urashima after all... So he'll get over it and everything will get back to normal..." Haruka said to herself, in an effort to convince herself of it.

It didn't seemed to work now or the tenth time about a hour later.

-oOoOoOo-

Author's note –

Honestly, this and the previous chapter feels both filler-ish and preachy, but perhaps I'm wrong. This fic is turning out to be more popular than I thought, so maybe I'm being too negative on my views about my writing abilities. So I guess while the arc was mostly filler, it was slightly moving the plot along. I guess I need to plan out the chapters better.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.

WARNING!: In my opinion, this chapter kind of borders on a bashing chapter towards Motoko. So if she's your favorite character, be prepared for bashing or stuff close to it.

-oOoOoOo-

After bring the groceries to the kitchen, Tomoko asked, "Do you wish for any assistance with putting them away, Miss Maehara?"

Shinobu shook her head and said, "No, I'll be fine. I have a system of where to put them and-"

"You'd like me to keep Su distracted, right?" Tomoko asked, with a slight smirk. Shinobu nodded and Tomoko then said to Su, "Let's go see the videos. I'd like to discover what my cousin has been up to."

"Yup!, just follow me to my room!" Su said, as she began heading to her her room on the second floor. Tomoko followed after her.

Once alone, Shinobu sighed. She had heard the discussion between Keitaro and Tomoko back in the clothing store. She even tried to imagine the scenario that Tomoko asked Keitaro to imagine.

After a few moments during it, she shook herself out of it and was certain that she might have nightmares that night and the following nights.

_'Who knew that one small change could have that bad of an effect? Are all the tenants monsters because of their actions?' _Shinobu thought as she began putting away the perishables in the fridge. She then glanced at the doorway where Su and Tomoko had left and pondered about a few of the events that had happened after Keitaro came. _'I wanted to find a way to get rid of you if you either were a fake or if you misbehaved again like you did towards Motoko, but now... I wonder if we are the ones that need to be punished...'_

Shinobu shook in fear as she briefly imagined being in Keitaro's spot whenever Motoko decided that he needed to be punished.

_'Hopefully, she won't go that far...'_ Shinobu thought as she continued to put away the groceries.

-oOo-

As Motoko tried to meditate, she heard Su run up the stairs. Motoko the got up and walked over to the door, intending on opening it to call out to Su. She stopped when she heard someone else come up the stairs. After a few moments, Motoko heard, Tomoko's voice call out, "So your room is next to my cousin's? How nice..."

"Yup, pretty handy when I need someone to sleep with at night!" Su's voice cheerfully replied.

"Oh, I take it you get lonely at night?" Tomoko's voice asked, as Motoko tried her best to be silent and go up near the door to listen better.

"...Yeah..." Su's voice answered in a still cheerful tone, but not as much as before.

"I wonder... Do you do it solely for the reason that you get lonely, or do you sense a lonely soul in her?" Tomoko's voice asked.

_'What is she implying? That Su seeks me out because I am as lonely as she is?' _Motoko thought to herself

"Pheh... Just the first one. No way would she get lonely in this place," Su's voice replied.

Motoko smirked and thought, _'Not when Urashima is around. Never a moment to myself when is is around.'_

"Couldn't that be said about you?" Tomoko's voice asked.

"Heh, don't bother trying that pseudo-psychiatrist-stuff on me or I won't allow you to watch the videos." Su's voice replied.

"Very well. Lead the way," Tomoko's voice said.

Motoko waited until she no longer heard footsteps.

_'So what was that... Oh, now I remember... Su is going to show her some events that she recorded... I wonder what events will be shown?'_ Motoko thought. _'Perhaps I should come into watch?'_

After a few minutes of pondering, she shook her head and thought, _'No, what evidence Su recorded will be enough to convince her that Urashima is a pervert and that she shouldn't waste time on him_.'

Motoko then went back to meditating. She had roughly half an hour before she had to go train on the roof balcony.

-oOo-

Su's room was decorated with all sorts of trees one might think would be in a jungle and all sorts of inventions. It took a bit of time wandering around the room, but the little inventor had finally led Tomoko to a large computer. Su had expected Tomoko to go "Oooh!' and 'Ah' over the large size of the room, but to her disappointment, Tomoko barely let out an 'huh' and almost didn't gaze around. Su grumbled a little bit as she sat down.

"Here's the place where you can watch over the videos that I took, But there's something I gotta ask first before I let you go and see things here," Su said ,as she began pressing buttons.

"What is it?" Tomoko asked.

"You're in a place that's large on the inside than the outside! How come you ain't surprised?!" Su asked.

"I watched a darling little show that had something resembling a blue police box from Britain for a few years. It was called Doctor Who," Tomoko replied.

"That doesn't answer my question!" Su grumbled.

"If you ever watched the show, you'd know I just did," Tomoko replied. She then thought to herself, _'I still would prefer the TARDIS over a lab like this...'_

Su shook her head.

"Whatever... Just type in either a date or a name, place or person and you'll get a video from some time in the past that I recorded with my spybots," Su said, as she left the chair and began walking into the jungle in her room.

"What if I need to speak with you?" Tomoko asked as she sat down in the chair in front of the large computer.

"Just yell! I'll still be in the room," Su answered, before jumping out of sight.

After a few moments, Tomoko took out a sheet of paper and a pen from her pocket and placed them down on a spot to write down on. She then typed the words,'Motoko' and 'Keitaro' in the computer's search engine.

-oOo-

Hidden away in another part of Su's room, Su watched Tomoko's reactions as the videos were being shown. Roughly three hours had passed.

In the beginning, Tomoko winced, other times she almost flinched. After some times, she began to have an angry glare leveled at Motoko whenever she came on screen.

_'What did Motoko ever do to her? It's like Motoko went and destroyed Tomoko's lunch for a few years...' _Su thought as she watched Tomoko through a pair of binoculars. When Tomoko stopped the video to write down something, Su took a gander at the video and held back a laugh. _'I remember that one! __Motoko __hit Keitaro because Kitsune said something about Motoko's swordmanship was lacking.'_

As more videos were watched, Tomoko kept getting more angry, but Su felt that any of her inventions could handle Tomoko if she decided to go berserk.

Then the video of what had happened a few weeks ago played on screen. During it, Tomoko looked shocked and then seemed to hope and silently plead for something, but as soon as Keitaro was knocked away on screen... Tomoko looked outright furious for a few seconds... and then seemed to rapidly calm down.

As she stared at Tomoko getting up, Su felt fearful of the older Aoyama. Her instincts told her to stay out of the way.

"Miss Su, I need to get dressed and then talk with my cousin about a few things," Tomoko said in a voice that only had a hint of rage, as she got up and began heading towards the door.

After Tomoko left, Su recalled how Keitaro looked when Naru or anyone else was taking their time before hitting him. It was just how she felt like at the moment.

_'Is... Is this how he felt?'_ Su thought as she was hugging a tree for comfort. At any other time, she'd go look for Motoko for comfort, but not in this case. Not when it seemed like Motoko was going to be attacked. After a few seconds, Su leapt down and walked over to the computer. She typed in a few commands for some Tamabots to assist Motoko if Tomoko tried to attack her. Then Su decided to run a DNA check to see if Tomoko was related to Motoko in any way.

-oOo-

After getting dressed, Tomoko quickly walked to Motoko's room and slammed open the door.

"Motoko Aoyama! How... dare..." Tomoko trailed off when she realized that Motoko wasn't in the room. She folded her arms across her chest, looked at the floor, and thought to herself. "Now where can she be... She doesn't have to go to camp today..."

Her head went up as she realized where Motoko would be and began to head to the roof balcony.

"Taking a nap after training on a warm day like this... Back at the Aoyama compound, you'd be punished severely, no matter how much everyone else wanted to lie about in the sun.." Tomoko muttered, as she just reached the door. After taking a deep breath in an effort to calm herself, she reached for the door handle.

-oOo-

Motoko was lying on the floor of the Roof balcony, having a nice daydream about the past from when she first came to the Hinata, when she was shocked by hearing the nearby door to the Hinata being slammed open.

"Motoko Aoyama! How dare you call yourself honorable! How dare you proclaim yourself a protector of purity! How dare you punish others, just to appease your pride!" Tomoko yelled as she stomped into view.

Motoko began crawling away backwards. Tomoko had a look of fury on her face that rivaled one of Tsuruko's, but not one of Tsuruko's demonic furies that was more meant to scare than anything else. In fact, Motoko vaguely recalled a similar rage from when she was younger and one of the people that Tsuruko defeated in a matched tried to attack her to get back at Tsuruko when they lost to Tsuruko. Tsuruko had stopped them and then sent the person to the hospital. The person still had problems walking to this day.

"W-What are you talking about?" Motoko stammered, as Tomoko began to close the distance between them.

After taking a deep breath, Tomoko replied through gritted teeth, "Thirty-three incidents..."

Seeing that Motoko had little clue or was too scared to remember, Tomoko then took out a sheet of paper and said, "Su had recorded thirty-thee incidents that you went and proved you had little to no honor..."

"Wha..? Wait! You misunderstand!" Motoko declared, as her back hit a post in the railing behind her.

"Then enlighten me..." Tomoko ordered, standing over Motoko like an demon enjoying the fear of its prey. Motoko vaguely noticed a sheet of paper in Tomoko's hands.

"I-i-if it has anything to do with Urashima, you should know that he is an intruder in this sanctuary of women!" Motoko replied, trying to summon up as much strength in her voice.

"Oh really.. Did Granny Hina ever call this place a sanctuary for women?" Tomoko asked, as she leaned down a little bit and placed her hands on her hips.

"N-n-no, But if we had asked-" Motoko tried to say, before getting interrupted.

"Do you or any of the tenants own the Hinata or its grounds?" Tomoko asked, with the hate in her voice growing.

"N-no..." Motoko replied, as she started to wonder if she was going to be attacked or worse.

"As long as Mr. Urashima is the landlord and manager, he has more say than you ever will about the Hinata." Tomoko said.

"But we were here first!" Motoko said, finding a fact that she held to be true.

"Oh really? Then if I ask Haruka if there any pictures of you being here before Mr. Urashima was ever here when he was a child, she'll have them?" Tomoko asked.

"T-t-that doesn't count..." Motoko weakly replied.

"Oh, but it does. He was here before you and he owns the Hinata. You're only able to stay here because of his good will. If he felt like it, he'd be in his legal right to throw everyone out!" Tomoko loudly said. Motoko then began to stand up.

"We were here longer!" Motoko loudly replied as she got into Tomoko's face. "We have more right to be here than he does!"

"So if he were to stay at the Aoyama compound longer than you have, he'd have more right to be there than you do?" Tomoko asked.

"No! That is my birthright!" Motoko angrily replied.

"And the Hinata is his," Tomoko said back, as she was forcing herself to calm down.

"He lost that right when he was born as a worthless male!" Motoko yelled, as she stepped back and reached at her side for her bokken to hit some sense into Tomoko. Only to discover that her bokken was on the floor behind Tomoko.

"If you try using that logic in the courts, you'll be laughed right out of the room. Well... Before you get pissed off and start attacking, like you have so many times before against Mr. Urashima, let's talk about a few incidents that you wronged Mr. Urashima, "Tomoko replied, as she crossed her arms.

"I was justified in those!" Motoko shouted.

"So you were justified in helping Kitsune steal money from Mr. Urashima's wallet to find him and Naru, and not even bothering to pay him back? There's hardly any honor in being a thief..." Tomoko replied with a grin.

Motoko hissed a tiny bit as she recalled that. She at first planned on paying him back, but then rationalized him being a pervert as a reason to not pay him back.

"We had no idea where they were and what they were doing..." Motoko muttered.

"And then there's the day where you attacked Mr. Urashima four times in one day. Once for checking up on you when you fell asleep on the roof, once when Miss. Konno implied that your swordmanskill was lacking, and the third when you decided to tie him up and kill him, blaming him for your loss at Seta's hands and for you falling in love with Mr. Urashima. The fourth time was you had Miss Su and Miss Sarah tie him up, just so that you could launch an attack at him, without telling him what it would do," Tomoko said. She then lost her grin. "Do you even realize what would have happened if you had succeeded in killing Mr. Urashima?"

Motoko pondered a little bit about the possibilities. She trembled in fear a little when she quickly came across one that would end in her death.

"The Aoyama name would be worse than scum once Granny Hina had gotten her pound of flesh from the Aoyama clan in the courtroom. You would either be cast out of the clan roster and forgotten in prison, or be forced to commit Seppuku," Tomoko said. Before Motoko could say anything, Tomoko then added in an angry tone, "Who would the courts believe, an old woman crying about her dead grandchild or a teenage girl who could pass for a man?"

Motoko stiffed. It had been who-knows-how-long since she voiced her worries and complaints that she looked unfeminine, and Tomoko seemed to bring them back up.

"You know nothing about what goes around here..." Motoko muttered, as she wondered how fast she could push down Tomoko and grab the bokken on the floor.

"Thanks to Su's videos, I think I know a bit more than a girl who attacked someone five times in one day, one of which was for him cheering you up!" Tomoko replied in a voice that bordered on yelling.

"You... You know nothing! You had been on sabbatical!" Motoko shouted.

"I may have been on sabbatical, but I never lied about my family line to make money like you did," Tomoko replied.

"Do you know how hard it is to live with someone like Urashima? He peeps and fondles us all day, every day! Especially Naru!" Motoko said, as she once again got in Tomoko's face. "Are you going to say that he is clumsy?"

"I watched the videos, He didn't do it all that much, and he really is that clumsy. Being hit and terrified all the time doesn't help matters. And why defend Naru, when she led him to your room while you were undressing? You then attacking him and then challenging him was a bit too much. If she is as smart as she likes to think she is, then she should have at least warned him to call out first before opening your door, " Tomoko replied in a bit of a sarcastic manner.

"Naru should be forgiven, that pervert probably ignored her!" Motoko said back, as her fists trembled. Speaking of Naru, mimicking Naru when she attacked Keitaro was starting to look good to Motoko.

"And what of the time that Su forcibly tried to remove Mr. Urashima's clothes?" Tomoko asked.

"Wha? He must of led her on!" Motoko weakly said as she didn't quite remember Su trying to remove his clothes. Her memory of that time was him simply deciding to remove his clothes in front of everybody.

"Right... Just like Tama led you to attack Mr. Urashima when Tama refused to stop chasing you. Or the time that Mr. Urashima looked at Miss Narusagawa wearing a kimono... you and Miss Narusagawa decided to attack him probably because of something that Miss Konno said earlier that day... Mr. Urashima must have led you on for those!" Tomoko said, not even bothering to hide her sarcasm.

"Er... uh..." Motoko muttered as she didn't remember those times at all.

"Let's go with another one- Telling him to stay away from Su, despite the fact you knew that Su would chase after him if he tried to stay away from her!" Tomoko exclaimed as she clasped her hands together.

"I had no idea she'd even do that!" Motoko said.

"What about-" Tomoko said, before Motoko interrupted her by trying to throw a a punch. Tomoko easily dodged it. When Motoko tried again, Tomoko grabbed Motoko's arm and twisted it behind Motoko's back. "I wasn't finished..."

"You never should have come here!" Motoko muttered, as she tried to break free.

"Now where was I... Oh, yes! Attacking him because a generic fortune said you might fall in love with him!" Tomoko said in a fake-cheerful voice.

"How dare you, calling them generic!" Motoko angrily replied. Tomoko then slightly twisted Motoko's arm a little bit to punish her.

"At least I didn't attack Mr. Urashima when he followed Miss Otohime when you were trying to do a ceremony to remove Otohime's bad luck, or attacked him for falling onto Miss Narusagawa because Tama tripped him," Tomoko spat back, before letting Motoko go. However, she had done it in a way that had Motoko fall on the floor.

"I was trying to help her and I bet he wanted to peep at her!" Motoko argued, as she held the arm that Tomoko held. Nothing was broken, it just hurt.

"Right... Right... Just like the time that you forced him to eat ground up fried frog and fried lizard..." Tomoko muttered, closing her eyes and shaking her head a little.

"You and I both know that it is a family recipe for getting better!" Motoko exclaimed, not wanting to hear anyone badmouth something from her family, even it came from a family member.

"Yes, and it can work, but we seek permission first before applying the treatment, and you didn't, because he is a male..." Tomoko replied, opening her eyes to glare at Motoko.

"He would have thanked me if Su hadn't forced him to try her recipe! What recipe involves a large egg and warm beer!?" Motoko grumbled.

"Since you're so hung up on tradition... What about the Instant chocolate mix package you gave him for Valentines day? You could have at least bought the cheap chocolates that anyone could buy!" Tomoko said, as Motoko slowly began to stand up.

"He was lucky to get anything from me and the Instant chocolate mix package was more expensive than the cheap stuff!" Motoko said back in an angry tone.

"Right... Nothing says 'I like you' by giving them the materials to do all the work that you were supposed to do!" Tomoko said in a sarcastic manner.

"Since you watched the videos, then you know about my first attempt at getting rid of him! If it weren't for that cold, he wouldn't even be here!" Motoko said, stomping a little bit.

"Really? I think that's more of your third try and sixth attack," Tomoko muttered.

"So tell me, miss know-it-all, What were my first though fifth attacks?" Motoko said, in a sarcastic tone, hoping to have Tomoko attack her and have someone walk in at the wrong moment, so that Keitaro would have to try Tomoko out of the Hinata.

"Feh.. If the heir to the Shinmei-Ryu has such a poor memory, then all is lost..." Tomoko said in a dramatic tone as she put the back of her hand on her forehead for effect.

"Hey! I attacked him because he suddenly appeared and then reappeared, when he never should have been anywhere near the Hinata! Then the bastard was smuggling Shinobu's panties in his clothes, no doubt to give to his worthless friends!" Motoko yelled.

"And you attacked him and his friends because... They tried to flirt with those followers of yours... How sad that you had such low expectations of them..." Tomoko muttered. "But enough about talking about your followers-"

"How dare you say that I think low of those innocent maidens!" Motoko yelled.

"You wanna know what I think? I bet those girls are willing to steal your underwear from your locker, whenever you're away, just to have something belonging to their 'hero'," Tomoko said with shaking her head a little.

"No, it was a perverted male that had done that. Once I get my hands on them. I will make them pay..." Motoko muttered.

Then Motoko saw a cold presence in Tomoko's eyes as she began to frown.

"Like a few weeks ago, when you made Mr. Urashima pay after that Kangaroo trial you held when you thought he slept with Miss Otohime?" Tomoko said in a whisper that scared Motoko more than being yelled at. The whisper had the rage from when Tomoko yelled at her only minutes before, but somehow seemed worse; like it was a flashlight before, but now it was focused on her like a lazer beam.

"It... It was justice and-" Motoko muttered, before being slapped. There was enough force to send Motoko back down to the floor.

"It was not justice, it was a mockery of justice. I've half a mind to challenge you to a match to strip you of being the heir..." Tomoko whispered. "And the other half wants to go tell Tsuruko of that trial..."

As she covered the spot that Tomoko had slapped, Motoko's eyes widened as she thought about what Tsuruko might do if she had heard about that. It was a short nightmare-ish daydream that ended with Tsuruko sending an unavoidable attack at Motoko.

"You can't... I won't let you..." Motoko said, but without any strength in her words.

"I will meditate and think about what should I do with you..." Tomoko whispered. She then took a few deep breaths.

She then said in her normal voice as she looked at her list, "As for the last six items, They are: You attacking him after Su and Sara lead him through the tunnels around the Hinata, you throwing a knife at Mr. Urashima when you thought he was peeping on you after you attacked him and his friends, you forcing him into a challenge that he never accepted, you attacking him after the 'match' when you were recovering from the cold, Attacking him when he came into the changing room because Haruka told him to go there when you and the others were there undressing; and finally, you and Miss Narusagawa attacking him because he came into the hot springs while you and the others were bathing because he had something to show Miss Narusagawa. Out of all the things that I mentioned, only that last two did you have some actual reason to punish him, but even in those, you went too far with the punishment."

Tomoko then headed to the door. She stopped before entering and said, If I discover that you ran away before I make my judgement, I will let Tsuruko and everyone else know of your misdeeds at the Hinata and it will be in the worse light that I can muster."

Motoko shivered a little bit and began to tear up, as she hoped for someone to come by and at least tell her that everything would end alright. She even started to want Keitaro to come by and say those positive words.

-oOoOoOo-

Author's note - Before writing this chapter, I re-read the Love Hina manga to get a list of some of things that Motoko did towards Keitaro before chapter 72. I came up with 33 incidents, but I think I might have missed a few. While I do like Motoko, I dislike a lot of the stuff she did towards Keitaro. Then again, I kinda dislike Keitaro because he needs to get his head out of the clouds.

To those that disliked this chapter, but were willing to read this far, I thank you for reading and I apologize for the bashing of Motoko. I tried to avoid Tomoko outright-bashing Motoko, but I worry I may have failed. I do hope you'll continue reading this fic and I will do my best to avoid chapters that come close to bashing in the future.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.

-oOoOoOo-

Keitaro had cried for a few minutes after he had gotten back in his room. When the tears seemed to stop, he decided to try to do something constructive with his time until dinner.

_'Let's see... Repair a few spots I've been putting off... No, might meet with someone and they'd see it the wrong way... Can't go out for a jog for the same reason... Can't go and chat with someone because they'd see right through me and ask what's wrong... Might as well go and study...' _Keitaro thought with a slightly weary sigh.

A few minutes later... he was sitting in his desk, trying over and over to study a book that one of his professors gave him. But each time, it didn't take long before his thoughts returned to the one subject that he didn't want to think about. The subject seemed to dominate his mind and refused to leave.

_'Let's see... Cats can hear ultrasound. ...Turning a clock's hands counterclockwise while setting it is not necessarily harmful. It is only damaging when the timepiece contains a chiming mechanism. ...Am I in an abusive relationship with everybody in the Hinata? I didn't think I was... but that conversation...'_ Keitaro thought, with a shutter at the last part. _'I'm working too hard and studying too much. That's it! I'll just let my mind wander about happy things!'_

Keitaro closed his eyes and tried to imagine himself and Naru married together and having a few kids.

At first, it seemed to go well, but then he reached the part where the kids entered school.

_In the daydream, Naru started to become strict and making the kids study more and more. At first, 72% correct of a paper was deemed alright. Then the minimal best became 80%... Then 85%, 90%... Until having 99% was deemed not good enough in her eyes. She yelled and berated the kids almost every night. If Keitaro tried to interfere, Naru hit him and told him to stay out of it. If he tried anymore after that, she threatened to divorce him and take away the Hinata in the settlement. After awhile, His kids began to see him just as useless ad Naru did when she was angry._

Keitaro opened his eyes and slapped himself a few times to make sure that he was in reality.

"Maybe I should've tried harder to tell Naru to not get so mad at me for making a mistake in the past..." Keitaro muttered to himself. He then sighed before saying, "Who am I kidding? I try to talk back to anyone and I get hit... Even when I talked back to Tomo-"

He was silent for a few seconds as he remembered the chat in the alley. He still found it strange that she wanted him to listen to something there. When he learned that it was Naru. Kitsune, and Motoko, he had tried to say something, but Tomoko had stopped him. Then there was the talk they had after the trio had left the area.

"Wha... But... I..." Keitaro rambled a little bit as he was trying to come to terms with the fact he had talked back to someone and didn't get hurt. The last time something like that happened was before he tried to apply for Tokyo U.

After a few moments passed, he decided to follow the first urge that came to him. So he wound up laughing for a good five-to-ten minutes.

When he had finished laughing, he half-expected Naru or someone else to enter demanding why he was laughing. Since no one came in, he then chuckled for a little bit, but only for a couple of minutes.

He honestly had no idea why the first urge was to laugh.

_'Maybe I've been hit a few too many times and I've gone a bit crazy...'_ Keitaro thought, letting out a sigh. _'Anyway... things aren't as bad as they might seem be...'_

For some reason, that last part brought up a little bile in Keitaro's throat; as well as a small, nagging thought that whispered, _'They're worse...' _

As he tried to go back to studying, he felt a bit of an urge to go to the balcony roof for some reason. For a brief moment, he was about to, but memories of getting hit made him sit back down.

_'Better not... For all I know, Motoko might very well be stripping her clothes off to cool down because she had a lengthy training session with Tomoko,'_ Keitaro thought. When he heard some stomping by his door and then another door open and shut rather quickly, he thought, _'Huh... sounded angry... Maybe Motoko got in a hit that hurt Tomoko's pride? Perhaps I should go see... No, that'd be a bad idea as well... Either one of them could be in a 'attack Keitaro' mood...'_

He then tried yet again to study, but kept glancing at the door. The urge to go check on Motoko and Tomoko was conflicting with the fear of being attacked by them.

-oOo-

Currently, Naru was hugging a pillow in Mutsumi's room and was sitting on the floor. Mutsumi had known of a secret passage behind the the Hinata that led into her room, but did not know how she remembered. After a few minutes of trying to think of yet another way of how that was possible, she gave up and settled on trying to feel better.

As for Mutsumi, she was sitting on a chair in a corner, waiting for a good moment to try to cheer Naru up.

After Naru let out a sigh, Mutsumi asked, "Are you feeling better?"

"A little bit..." Naru muttered.

"Wanna talk some more?"

"Dunno... Maybe not..."

"If you keep things bottled up inside you, how will anything get better?" Mutsumi asked, tilting her head a little.

"Heh... If the Christmas cake wasn't there, all we'd have to do is wait a few days and everything would be back to normal" Naru replied with a near-emotionless chuckle. Mutsumi then decided to try a different tactic.

"Surely Tomoko won't stand in between you and Keitaro, if she knows that Keitaro said that he is in love with you!" Mutsumi said with cheer in her voice. Inwardly, she hoped that Naru would be inspired to go out and declare her love for Keitaro.

Naru thought about it for a few moments.

"...Maybe... But doesn't that mean I'd have to go admit my feelings towards him?" Naru asked.

"That wouldn't be a problem for you," Mutsumi answered. If Naru was paying attention, she would have noticed the cheer in Mutsumi's voice start to disappear.

"... I want more time to think about what I feel..." Naru muttered, hugging the pillow some more.

Mutsumi quietly sighed as the feeling that could be summed up as 'this is going to take a long time' crept over her. Naru didn't notice, either because she was too engrossed in her pity party or Mutsumi was good at hiding her feelings.

"Naru... You aren't going to leave the Hinata, are you?" Mutsumi asked.

"No...Well...Maybe..." Naru answered.

"Naru, that will either send the wrong message or Keitaro and everyone in the Hinata will try to follow after you," Mutsumi stated.

"Not if you ask everyone to not follow me," Naru replied. She then looked up with a hopeful expression. "You'd do that for me, right Mutsumi?"

Mutsumi bit her lower lip for a few seconds.

"That won't solve anything, Naru. You should know that," Mutsumi said, as she avoided looking at Naru by staring at the floor.

"I'm not asking for much. I'm just asking for three days or so," Naru pleaded, even sadly pouting a little.

"Where will you be going?" Mutsumi asked, hoping it'd be somewhere close by, so she could 'accidentally' bring Keitaro there, and try to set the situation up for Naru to declare her feelings for Keitaro.

"Kyoto," Naru answered, as she started to believe that Mutsumi was going to help her.

Naru's hopes started to sink when Mutsumi took a sharp intake of breath.

"Naru... If you had decided to accept his feelings, I'd support you. If you decided to reject him, I'd do my best to help the both of you get over that awkward emotional hurtle and get back to all of us being friends again," Mutsumi said, as her hands began to curl up into fists.

"I need a bit more time to think about how I really feel about him!" Naru said, as tears began to form.

Mutsumi took another sharp breath.

"You had three weeks..." Mutsumi muttered.

"I'm shy, like you said!" Naru quickly pleaded, as her tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Mutsumi bit her lower lip again before saying, "...Fine... But you have to be with me when I tell them that you'll be leaving for a few days, Naru."

"I'd... I'd rather not," Naru muttered, calming down almost instantly. When she noticed the slight look of anger on Mutsumi's face, Naru quickly said, "On second thought, it'd be a good idea to speak with them before I leave."

"That would be a good idea..." Mutsumi replied, somewhat going back to her usual kind state, but seemed a little off. "So when shall that be?"

"Ah-Around dinner or so... It'd be nice to enjoy Shinobu's cooking," Naru said. Now Mutsumi seemed to go back to her usual state.

"I'd be happy as well," Mutsumi replied. Then she lowered her head a little, until shadows appeared around her eyes. "But do make sure that you decide on how you feel about Keitaro during your trip, Or I'll punish you!"

Naru nodded a little bit, as what Mutsumi did scared her a little bit.

-oOo-

The door to Haruka's cafe opened up. A slight turn of her head let Haruka know it was Kitsune.

"Hey, Haruka..." Kitsune said as she sat down and began rubbing her forehead. The way she was doing it was a sign to Haruka that Kitsune had been ranting to herself for a bit, but was still a bit miffed.

_'Better to rant away from me then to me... Konno tends to get a bit too bitchy when she rants to someone..." _Haruka thought, as she walked over to Kitsune.

"So, what's wrong with you?" Haruka asked.

"I had a plan, a good plan, but it turned stupid when it wound up with me having to run," Kitsune answered.

"So what was it?" Haruka asked as she sat down besides Kitsune.

"Oh nothing much. Just was following a few people..." Kitsune replied.

"You know that's just gonna get you into trouble one of these days..." Haruka said, as she let out a sigh.

Kitsune smirked.

"Until then, it's still fun..." Kitsune said. She then lost her smirk and quietly muttered, "Except for today..."

"That's why you should stay in shape," Haruka replied.

"Says the woman that smokes all the time," Kitsune said back.

Haruka then smirked, scaring Kitsune a little.

"You know... Perhaps I should take over the duties of collection rent for awhile, give Keitaro a break for a bit from that part of the job..." Haruka said, clearly enjoying the horrified look on Kitsune's face.

"You wouldn't!" Kitsune said, as she briefly opened her eyes.

"A good deed is worth doing," Haruka replied.

"Ex-excuse me, but I gotta go finish an article or two that I've been meaning to finish," Kitsune muttered as she got up to leave.

Haruka nearly cracked a smile when Kitsune nearly hit the wall besides the door.

_'Been awhile since I've done that to her... She's been getting a bit too cocky...' _Haruka thought.

A brief thought of Keitaro quickly made her frown.

_'I'll see if I can make it up to him later... when he's in a better mood... Then again, breaking his leg on the first day at Tokyo U. would be a morale breaker... He just held up better than most...'_ Haruka thought, as she got up and grabbed a teapot to serve tea. _'Then again... when I go see Keitaro later, I might as well talk to... I think her name's Tomoko? Whatever... She's meddling more than Granny Hina, but seemingly leaving everyone in a bad mood...'_

As Haruka poured a cup for a customer, the phone rang.

"I'll be back in a second," Haruka told the customer.

"Hello, You've reached the Hinata cafe," Haruka said.

"Hi, it's Moriko!" The voice on the line said.

"It's business hours for both of us, make it quick," Haruka said.

"If you have nothing planned after we're both off for the night, let's chat. It's been too long," Moriko replied.

"Well..." Haruka mutttered. _'I can chat for a bit and Keitaro would probably be feeling a bit better by then...' _"Alright, but not too long..."

"I'll come pick you up later," Moriko said before she and Haruka hanged up.

"Troubles?" An old man asked, as Haruka picked up the teapot.

"A little bit, but nothing that needs my immediate help," Haruka replied, as she poured the old man a cup. Haruka was a bit glad inside that the old man didn't see her talk with Keitaro a while ago.

"If you say so..." The old man said, before drinking some of the tea.

-oOo-

Su was leaning back in her chair, almost half-asleep when her computer beeped a little bit, signifying that it had found a result.

"Now let's see..." Su muttered to herself, smiling as she read the screen. She frowned a little bit and muttered, "That can't be right..."

She typed in a few more commands. One command to check the videos of when the DNA samples were collected and another command for the computer to perform a more thorough check on all the DNA samples that had been collected in the last few days.

"I do hope it's not a bug or something..." Su mumbled to herself. She didn't have the parts to either repair or upgrade her main computer, nor would she be able to order more until a mouth from now.

She briefly had the thought of going to get some bananas, but chose to watch over her computer's progress.

"Huh... I wonder if my Tamabots needed to protect Motoko?" Su asked herself, as she then put in the commands to check her Tamabots' status. But when she saw the status screens, she was a bit surprised to see that they were still active. When she checked their memory banks, she was even more surprised when the Tamabots didn't take any action when Tomoko slapped Motoko.

Su typed more and more commands to see if any bugs, errors, or merely had no ammo. After a few minutes, she was unable to find any problems. Su scratched her head a little bit and pondered why the Tamabots didn't make any moves.

"I guess... they didn't see it as an attack? Strange..." Su muttered. She let out a sigh as it seemed like this month wasn't going to have any new inventions, only repairs, program checks, and re-testing of all the Tech that she had. She never liked having to do that because it was long and boring work that didn't involve anyone, especially her, having any fun whatsoever.

-oOo-

Several blocks away, a woman in a hakama and wearing a conical straw hat was walking around a little bit.

_'It's been too long since we've chatted, Motoko. While you've forced me to come, I am enjoying the sights, so I forgive you a little bit,' _The woman thought, as she enjoyed a small chocolate donut as she waited for the light to change at the crosswalk. _'I still have enough time to waste, so I think I'll come to the Hinata during the evening... Unless I meet up with Mr. Urashima in a little bit... Perhaps I can find out why people kept repeating of him flying and why they seemed to look at me with fear?... Perhaps it might be fun to find him and tease him a little until I can discover how Motoko treated him?'_

When she chuckled a little bit, the people around her quickly stepped away from her. The slight shock of it quickly made her stop

As she slowly lost her grin, Tsuruko thought, _'And that action showed me that my visit might not bode well for my little sister...I truly hope that all you've done only deserves to have me embarrass you to the point where you are reluctant to leave your room for a few weeks.'_

Tsuruko held back a chuckle as she hoped that Motoko felt a shiver of fear at that very moment, but only if Motoko did something to deserve her wraith. But for some reason, Tsuruko felt a twinge of guilt at the moment.

-oOoOoOo-

Author's note - What kind of professor gives a student a book of random facts? I don't know, but they'd probably be a bit fun to talk to.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.

-oOoOoOo-

Kitsune was walking up the stairs, complaining about not being able to have Haruka listen to anything that the fox had to say, when she thought she heard something.

So she cupped her ears in a way to better hear what it might be and looked around.

"How many tunnels are there under the Hinata? I swear that there might almost be a city under the building!" Naru's voice called out from behind some bushes near the stairs.

"That's a silly notion, Naru! The ground under the Hinata would probably collapse from a lack of proper support if that was the case!" Mutsumi replied as she crawled halfway out of the bushes. She stopped for a moment and grabbed a part of her skirt and . "Huh... My skirt's gotten stuck on a branch."

There was the sound of Naru sighing.

"At least Keitaro isn't here. You'd probably accidentally-" Naru said, before Mutsumi tore her skirt. Naru reluctantly finished,"...Rip your skirt in half and be in your underwear around him..."

Mutsumi stood up, revealing that her skirt had a tear big enough that her underwear was showing.

"Aw... I liked this dress..." Mutsumi pouted, as Naru crawled out of the bushes.

"I swear, sometimes you seem to do stuff like that on purpose..." Naru grumbled as she stood up.

"Hi, you two!" Kitsune said, waving at them. Naru stared at Kitsune for a few seconds, Making Kitsune ask, "What? Is there something on my face?"

"N-no... It's just that... Mutsumi and me were taking the tunnels to go to a tunnel entrance behind Hinata, but we wound up in front of the Hinata instead... " Naru answered, sounding a bit unsure. _'No matter how many times I try the tunnels under the Hinata, they always lead to somewhere different.'_

"Huh... Guess we took a wrong turn somewhere..." Mutsumi said with a shrug.

"Maybe the Hinata has some powerful spirit in control over it and it can rearrange the tunnels on a whim?" Kitsune asked, as Mutsumi and Naru walked over.

"That's a ridiculous theory! Mutsumi probably misremembered the a turn somewhere..." Naru answered. She then looked at Mutsumi and sighed when she looked over the state of Mutsumi's skirt. Naru then took off her jacket and handed it over to Mutsumi. "Here! Tie this around your waist!"

"Oh, Okay..." Mutsumi muttered as she took the jacket and did as Naru ordered.

"So why take the tunnels?" Kitsune asked.

"We were in Mutsumi's room and didn't want to have to speak with Haruka," Naru replied, looking away from Kitsune's gaze.

Kitsune smirked for a moment as she prepared a slight jest before remembering what had happened a minute or two ago.

"Yeah... I kinda understand..." Kitsune muttered, in a low tone. "So why did you run off, Naru?"

"I... I don't wanna talk about it now. Maybe later..." Naru meekly replied.

"Yes, It will be around dinner. Most likely afterwords," Mutsumi cheerfully interjected, though her tone sounded a bit forced.

Naru looked at Mutsumi with a bit of shock as the easily-angered girl thought, _'What? But I'm only going to tell everyone that I will be leaving for a week! How can Mutsumi... Oh I get it... Mutsumi is giving me an way to stop Kitsune from finding out what's really bothering me...'_

Naur gained a smile as she regained a little bit of her confidence.

"Yeah, so don't bother trying to get it outta me before then!" Naru said, as she put her hands on her hips for emphasis.

"Oh, c'mon! I've been your best friend for years! Can't you give me a little hint?" Kitsune asked with a little pout.

"No."

"C'mon!"

"I said no."

"Please!"

Naru then gave Kitsune a slight glare.

"I said no, so stop it!" Naru loudly said before stomping away.

After Naru reached the top of the stairs, Kitsune looked at Mutsumi and asked, "What's got her panties in a bunch?"

"It's not my place to say," Mutsumi said, before she started to walk up the stairs.

"I'm guessing it's something bad, ain't it?" Kitsune asked, as she followed Mutsumi up.

"I cannot say," Mutsumi answered in a oddly flat tone that did not reveal anything, except that Mutsumi might be upset.

Kitsune took a breath and held it for a few seconds before letting it out.

"Should'da just stayed in bed today..." The lazy blonde muttered to herself.

-oOo-

Keitaro heard Naru stomp into her room and slam her door shut. She then stomped over to the opening between her room and his. When he heard her slide open her wooden board, he looked up at the opening.

When Naru stuck her head down, Keitaro saw that she was quite angry.

"Hey, pervert! I'm going to be very busy until dinner, so don't bother me!" Naru growled, before she closed the opening.

Keitaro sighed and shrugged before going back to reading, or tried to.

_'So what was that about? Did Kitsune set her off again?' _Keitaro thought as he put the book down. A twinge of anger passed through him as he thought, _'Probably... There isn't much that she wouldn't do to entertain herself. There are some days where I wish I wasn't such a nice guy, where I wouldn't feel guilty about tossing her out. Today seems to be one of them...'_

Leaning back in his chair a little, Keitaro looked around until his eyes stopped at a picture of himself and Seta. It had been taken back when Keitaro thought he had been rejected and wound up on Pararakelse island.

_'Maybe I can ask Seta for some advice later..." _Keitaro thought. _'He's been kinda helpful at times. If nothing else, I'd have someone to vent to.'_

-oOo-

As for Naru, her hands were curled up into fists as she grew angry; at Keitaro, at her life, and at herself.

_'Why? Why did I do that? There was no need for me to do that...'_ Naru thought as she walked over to her desk and sat down. She bit her lower lip as she thought, _'I really need to get away from here for a few days. That'll fix everything...'_

Her cellphone rang. Naru picked it up and answered with, "Hello?"

"..."

"Yes, I don't have anything planned for this week."

"..."

"I was planning on staying away from the Hinata this week, so joining your discussion group works out well for me!"

"..."

"I'll show up by tomorrow morning! See you then!"

Naru hanged her cellphone up and muttered, "That's on problem solved... I wonder if Mutsumi won't mind if I leave-"

"Myuh!"

Naru looked at her window and saw Tama laying on the windowsill.

"If I leave early, you'll give Mutsumi a excuse that will make her overlook it, right?" Naru asked in a cheerful manner as she clasped her hands together.

Tama then flew to Naru's desk. After somehow grabbing a pencil with his flipper/wings, Tama drew a picture of a upset chibi-Mutsumi.

"Damn..." Naru muttered, as her hopes were dashed. "What if I bribed Su to stop chasing after you for a while?"

Tama tapped the picture a couple of times.

"Shoulda realized that you care more for Mutsumi than you fear Su's stomach..." Naru grumbled.

"Myuh!" Tama replied with a nod. Naru grumbled something indistinct as she went around her room, looking through her books for the meeting.

-oOo-

Since Shinobu had finished putting away the groceries, she began to study for a upcoming test in the the kitchen.

"Hello, Shinobu!" Mutsumi cheered as she entered.

"Hello, Mutsumi. What brings you here?" Shinobu asked.

"I was just wandering around. Naru seems a little off and Kitsune is starting to get a bad attitude," Mutsumi answered, as she sat down besides Shinobu.

"Well…." Shinobu said before explaining a little about the shopping trip. She told about Naru tried to confront Keitaro, but wound up being scared off by Tomoko at the clothing store.

When the chef was done, Mutsumi nodded a little before saying, "Naru did say something about that..."

Then Shinobu told Mutsumi about what Tomoko asked Keitaro to imagine for a little bit.

When Mutsumi closed her eyes, Shinobu quietly prayed, "Please just let it be another fainting spell..."

When Mutsumi's face contorted a little bit in disgust and horror, Shinobu knew her prayers went unanswered. Then Mutsumi leaned forward and her head rested on the table. The way that Mutsumi was breathing let Shinobu know that Mutsumi had now fainted.

"Mutsumi?" Shinobu asked, as she gently tapped Mutsumi's shoulders.

"Ara... What a bad dream..." Mutsumi muttered as she awoke.

"What was it about?" Shinobu asked.

"I... I dreamt about something that had happened in the Hinata, but everyone's genders were reversed!" Mutsumi said, as she stretched a little. The slight quiver in her voice was a clear sign that the little imagination trip did bother the sleepy turtle girl.

"My fault... I had told you about what Tomoko had asked Keitaro to imagine..." Shinobu replied in a hushed voice.

"It's not your fault. You didn't ask me to imagine it," Mutsumi said,m hoping to cheer up the Hinata's Chef up.

"...Are we bad people for letting Sempai get punished so much?" Shinobu asked.

It took Mutsumi a few moments to think of her reply.

"I don't think we are bad people... Perhaps we should step in sometimes and protect him..." Mutsumi answered in a slightly unsure tone.

"Yeah... Maybe..." Shinobu muttered. A part of her did want to step in and protect Keitaro, but the other part did not want to face the furies of Motoko and Naru. "So where are Kitsune and Naru?

"In their rooms. They need some time to think to themselves," Mutsumi replied. "So... Where's Tomoko's room?"

"Right by Sempai's room, in Room 203," Shinobu answered.

"Thank you... I need to speak with her about a few things..." Mutsumi said, as she walked away.

-oOo-

Tomoko was sitting on the floor and had managed to calm down a little bit from her 'chat' with Motoko. She heard someone knock at her door.

"You may enter," Tomoko called out. Mutsumi opened the sliding door and entered.

"I'm Mu... " Mutsumi uttered, before topping and gaining a slight glare on her face. "I'm Mutsumi..."

"I am Tomoko Aoyama... Have I offended you?" Tomoko asked, a bit curious at the turtle girl's expression.

"Why did you make Naru feel bad?" Mutsumi asked back.

"She was threatening an injured man. I worried that she may strike him," Tomoko answered.

"That doesn't sound like Naru..." Mutsumi muttered.

"The injured man that I was speaking of is Mr. Urashima," Tomoko explained.

"Oh... She wouldn't have attacked him while he is hurt. She's better than that," Mutsumi replied.

"Tch... I first encountered Mr. Urashima when he crashed into a park. Either Naru attacked him or Motoko attacked him. So... Which one do you think attacked him?" Tomoko asked. Mutsumi briefly curled her hands into fists.

"I don't know if what you said really happened or who may be responsible, but I'm not going to accuse either of them," Mutsumi muttered with a bit of hate in her voice.

"If you continue to turn a blind eye to their actions, you may lose Mr. Urashima," Tomoko said, narrowing her eyes at Mutsumi.

"He's stronger than you think."

"And abuse from those he considers friends chips away from that strength."

"It's not... Look, it's how they... " Mutsumi muttered, trying to find a response. After taking a deep breath, she said, " You should have not have come here. Things were easier and better."

"Easier and better to ignore the abuse that Mr. Urashima goes through everyday..." Tomoko replied.

_'Why... Why does she just rub me the wrong way? Why does her presence seem... wrong?' _ Mutsumi thought. "I ask that you leave..."

"I refuse. In fact. I ask that you leave my room," Tomoko asked, as she began to stand up.

Mutsumi gave a solid glare at Tomoko before she left.

_'I honestly never expected that from her...'_ Tomoko thought, as she looked at her kimono. "Might as well put it on... I sense her coming..."

-oOo-

"Stupid damn Kendo bitch... Things were better before you came... Naru's in a huff at me and Haruka was taking pleasure in making me squirm a bit... Last time that happened, she made me work my ass off doing all sorts of chores because she wanted a break... Thank god Keitaro does them all nowadays... But I bet you're responsible for giving me a bad day, Tomoko," Kitsune muttered to herself as she was looking through some of her half-written papers for something to finish and send in somewhere.

Most of the papers were useless because the events they were about were currently horribly out of date or were about something that she found way too boring to complete. Most of the time, it had been both.

Kitsune picked up one paper. After giving it a glance, she crumbled it up and tossed it away. It was about the antics that had happened during the first few months when Keitaro had come to the Hinata. She had thought it might lead to some easy money. Kitsune had been surprised when not only had it been rejected, but also Hina personally calling her and asking her not to do something like that again. Kitsune had tried to argue that it wouldn't harm anyone, but Hina refused and continued to ask her to not try it again. There had even been a vague hint of a threat from the seemingly sweet old lady.

When she finally couldn't find a single paper that she could use, Kitsune grumbled, "Dammit... Now I gotta go out... and work..."

-oOo-

_In the late afternoon..._

Everyone but Tomoko and Motoko were at the dinner table. Su seemed oddly subdued, but claimed she was looking towards Shinobu's cooking.

"Anyone want to go get the missing two?" Kitsune asked, with her tone suggesting she'd be happy if one of them didn't appear.

"I'll go," Keitaro said as he started to get up.

"No, I'll go. One of them might be undressing," Shinobu said, hopping out of her chair and heading out of the room.

Naru glared at Keitaro for a moment, as if to say, 'how dare you for making her go, you lazy bag of bones!' It did not go unnoticed by the landlord.

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll go see who's at the door.," Keitaro said as he grabbed his crutches and headed out of the room, not wanting to be near Naru at the moment.

"He could have let one of us go get the door. He had no right to make us feel guilty like that!" Naru muttered.

"This coming from the lady who gave him the evil eye just moments ago for letting Shinobu go off to get the Aoyamas," Kitsune muttered.

"Ah... Well... You could have volunteered!" Naru replied.

"I'm lazy, everyone knows that. In fact, _you_ could have volunteered," Kitsune said, leaning back a little..

"Stop it, you two. We're getting ready to eat dinner, not to argue," Mutsumi said.

"I didn't start anything!" Naru loudly declared. Kitsune snickered a little, getting a nasty glare from Naru and an upset look from Mutsumi.

"What?" Kitsune asked.

"I'm trying to get everything back to normal!" Mutsumi angrily shot back.

Both Naru and Kitsune looked at Mutsumi with a bit of fear and worry.

"Mutsumi?/Turtle girl?" Naru and Kitsune asked respectively.

"I'm sorry... It's just that Tomoko's presence doesn't seem right to me..." Mutsumi answered as she looked down at the floor.

"Maybe we could let Keitaro know... He might throw her out..." Kitsune replied. Mutsumi seemed to cheer up at that thought.

"Heh... The pervert probably doesn't have any spine to even think of doing something like that..." Naru grumbled.

"He might, if we support him..." Mutsumi replied.

-oOo-

Keitaro opened the front door and was a bit surprised to see who was there.

"Hello, I'm Tsuruko Aoyama." Tsuruko said.

-oOoOoOo-

Author's note -

After next chapter, I'm going to put this fic on hiatus and figure out if I should continue this fic. If I do, then I'll need to decide where should I go with this fic.

As for my thoughts on this chapter... I probably should not have written the Tsuruko bit in the last chapter.


	10. A little bit of confrontation

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.

-oOo-

A round of thanks to chronodekar and EagleCeres of The Fanfiction Forums for looking over and finding mistakes.

-oOoOoOo-

"I'm Keitaro Urashima, the manager and landlord of the Hinata. Motoko will be happy to hear that another one of her relatives has come," Keitaro said, moving out of the way for Tsuruko to enter.

As she walked in, a puzzled expression briefly appeared on Tsuruko's face.

"Who are you referring to, Mr. Urashima?" Tsuruko asked.

"Tomoko Aoyama. She came a day or two ago," Keitaro answered as he led Tsuruko to the dining room. ""Good thing Shinobu made extra helpings tonight."

A slight twitch of a frown crossed Tsuruko's face.

"I apologize for intruding. Had I know you were eating around now, I would have come by another time," Tsuruko replied.

"It's alright. Motoko's been in a bit of a bad mood. Maybe seeing you will cheer her up?" Keitaro said , as he led Tsuruko into the dining room.

_'Assuming she doesn't panic at the very sight of me...'_ thought Tsuruko.

Shinobu, Motoko, and Tomoko entered at that moment. Tomoko and Motoko were deep in thought. Tomoko seemed a bit angry, while Motoko seemed a bit depressed.

"Motoko, you have a guest," said Keitaro when he noticed the Kendoist.

Everyone was curious as they looked at Tsuruko. Motoko's face paled, while Tomoko sighed with some resignation. Tsuruko stared at the two as she was guided to a seat by Keitaro. Shinobu, Motoko, and Tomoko sat down as well.

"Tomoko, I presume?" Tsuruko asked the unfamiliar face, who nodded in reply, "We'll need to talk later, after I speak with Motoko."

"Who are you?" Naru asked.

"I am Motoko's older sister, Tsuruko Aoyama," Tsuruko answered.

"Actually, if no one minds, I'd like for myself and Tsuruko to leave for a bit to chat privately," Tomoko said.

"Fine with me!" Naru and Kitsune replied quickly.

"If it's important, I say let them," Mutsumi said with a smile. She was glad that she decided to come to dinner at the Hinata to provide Naru with support

"Sister?" Tsuruko asked.

"I think-" Motoko said, before getting interrupted by Kitsune tapping her under the table with her foot Motoko looked at the gambler for a few moments before she realized what Kitsune was doing.

It had been a long time since anyone in the Hinata had communicated in morse code, but Kitsune was tapping out, _'Got plan solve everything let her go.'_

Motoko thought for a few more seconds.

_'I want to tell Sister that Tomoko is going to tell her information that is out of proportion, but whatever Tomoko might tell her about me is backed up by Su's computers. I don't want to, but perhaps following whatever plan Kitsune has might be better...' _worried Motoko in her head .

"Sister? Is everything alright?" Tsuruko asked with only a small touch of concern in her voice when Motoko was looking down at the floor.

"Yes, I'm fine. You two can... go..." Motoko replied uneasily.

"It if bothers you this much-" Tsuruko replied, before Motoko fixed her with a glare.

"I said you two can go!" Motoko reasserted loudly.

"Anyone else?" Tsuruko asked, as she glanced at Tomoko with a nearly undetectable frown and thought, '_I get the feeling she had done something to bother my little sister...'_.

Shinobu and Su shrugged, while Keitaro said in a concerned tone, "Just hurry back."

"We will," Tomoko and Tsuruko said at the same time before they left the room.

Keitaro and the rest at the table watched them leave the room. When Keitaro turned around to start eating, he quickly noticed that Naru and Mutsumi were staring at him with a pleading look. Kitsune was also starting at Keitaro, but had an unreadable expression.

"Keitaro... We need to talk..." Naru muttered.

"Yes, Kei-chan... It concerns the peace of the Hinata and Tomoko..." Mutsumi said.

"She hasn't caused any problems as far as I know," Keitaro said.

"She made Naru feel bad," Mutsumi replied. To her surprise, Keitaro's eyes gained a slight glint of determination.

"She was threatening me in a store when I hadn't done anything. Tomoko asked her a few questions," Keitaro said.

"Hey! We made a mistake letting you go off with Su and Shinobu, you pervert!" Naru quickly replied. She looked at the two younger girls and asked, "Don't you believe it was wrong of us to leave you with him?"

"N-no..." Shinobu muttered, not liking being the center of attention at when Naru was starting to get angry.

"Heh. It's more like the other way around!" Su replied with a slight giggle.

"Dammit... he's gotten you to believe a pack of lies..." Naru muttered to herself.

"Naru, not helping with our case..." Kitsune said, as she grabbed one of Naru's shoulders to get her attention. Naru tried to calm down a little.

"When I went to talk to Tomoko earlier, she felt... Wrong," Mutsumi said.

"Wrong? How?" Keitaro asked, tilting his head a little in a bit of confusion.

"It's hard to explain, but it was kind of like a purple block in a group of red blocks," Mutsumi tried to explain.

"That still isn't a good reason to get rid of Tomoko. Maybe ask her to behave herself..." Keitaro muttered.

Naru gestured to Motoko.

"I bet Tomoko said or did something to make Motoko feel bad!" Naru loudly said.

"Motoko, did she?" Mutsumi asked, placing a hand on Motoko's shoulders.

_'Tell them what Tomoko did and get her out of the Hinata... and then Tomoko goes to the Aoyama compound and tells them how I besmirched my honor. Let her stay and I might find a way to get Tomoko to keep silent. But Tomoko has gone off with Tsuruko and Kitsune's plan has proven pointless...' _Motoko thought. "Whatever she may have done, it is an Aoyama matter. It does not concern any of you."

"Ah well... Guess Tomoko is gonna try to get our Motoko to go back home with whatever she's told your older sister..." Kitsune replied.

"I said it does not concern any of you," Motoko growled at Kitsune.

"I'm just trying to help you," Kitsune said, frowning at Motoko.

"And I said-" Motoko replied, before she was interrupted.

"Everyone, just stop!" Keitaro said, getting everyone's attention. "Motoko, what's your thoughts about if Tomoko should stay or leave?"

After a moment, Motoko answered. "As long as she doesn't break the rules, let her stay."

_'And that will allow me to find something to keep her quiet about certain things,'_ Motoko thought.

"I also vote to let her stay," Su said in an oddly serious tone, surprising everyone a little bit.

"This wasn't a vote," Keitaro said, before anyone else could put in their two cents.

-oOo-

Tomoko and Tsuruko stood in front of the Hinata.

"Shall we speak here?" Tsuruko asked.

"No. Anywhere on the Hinata grounds will have eavesdroppers sooner or later," Tomoko answered. With a smirk, she said, "Follow me, if you can." before quickly darting off.

"More childish then I remember Tomoko ever being..." Tsuruko muttered, before starting to chase after Tomoko.

When Tomoko reached the ends of the Hinata grounds and had neared an alley between two buildings, Tsuruko thought that would be where they would speak.

Instead, she was surprised when Tomoko leapt on one wall and then leapt onto the other, before leaping back onto the first. She continued to do this until she was on the roof of one of the buildings.

"Need any help, Tsuruko?" Tomoko asked in a slightly playful manner.

_'That's definitely not the Tomoko I remember. The Tomoko I remember was too focused towards duty and had a short temper,'_ Tsuruko thought as she looked up at Tomoko. "No need. I'll be up in a second or two."

Tsuruko walljumped in a similar manner.

"Now, shall we-" Tsuruko asked, before noticing that Tomoko had started running away onto another building.

"Not here! A block or two away!" Tomoko said with a laugh.

_'Whoever she is, she is not Tomoko Aoyama...' _Tsuruko thought with a frown as she started to chase after Tomoko. Tsuruko kept a hand on the sword at her side.

Less than a minute later when they were a block away from the Hinata, Tomoko finally stopped on a rooftop.

"This is a good spot to chat," Tomoko said as Tsuruko landed on the roof.

"Perhaps..." Tsuruko said in a flat tone as she walked towards Tomoko and studied her.

"You don't trust me, do you?" Tomoko asked an odd cheerful manner, like she knew the answer to her question.

"Tomoko has been away for years on sabbatical. First because she attacked and severely injured someone that wanted to be her friend, then she stayed away because she felt the Shinmei-Ryu was starting to breed hate. I've been working to both decrease their influence and to remove their power over the school," Tsuruko said.

"One bit of proof of that is Setsuna Sakurazaki's entry into the school," Tomoko said.

Tsuruko then prepared to pull out her sword to strike at Tomoko and asked, "How do you know that?"

"I could answer that in two ways - option-A, I either lower my defenses and allow you to see if I am lying OR, option-B we can duel and you can judge from my body's language if I am telling the truth," Tomoko asked.

"And what if you've deluded yourself into thinking whatever you say is the truth?" challenged Tsuruko.

"I take it you want to try the second method?" Tomoko asked back as she brought a pair of Bokken out of nowhere and tossed one towards the other female, who caught it.

"Partially out of a sense that I want to punish you for doing something to Motoko," Tsuruko answered, deciding to let Tomoko make the first move.

"I only brought up some of her dishonorable actions towards Mr. Urashima," Tomoko replied, as she seemed to be doing the same as Tsuruko.

"Enlighten me," Tsuruko asked. She was a bit surprised when Tomoko grew a bit angry.

"Repeated attacks towards Mr. Urashima's person, simply because Motoko was unwilling to listen to any excuse other than Mr. Urashima being a pervert," Tomoko spat.

"You seem quite angry at that... More than you should be..." Tsuruko muttered. She grew a bit curious when Tomoko, instead of growing annoyed or angry at her, merely chuckled a tiny bit before Tomoko coming in with an overhead strike.

"It is as you might think," Tomoko replied, as Tsuruko easily blocked the attack. Tomoko then stopped the strike and took a step back before repeatedly trying to attack Tsuruko's sides. "I am not Tomoko, but I am an Aoyama."

"Who then?" Tsuruko asked, as she was starting to have a bit of difficulty blocking Tomoko's strikes as Tomoko kept increasing in speed.

"Even if I told you, you would not believe it," Tomoko said, as Tsuruko leapt back and then attacked with a very weak stone-cutting wave, one that had the force of a nasty shove, but couldn't break anything. "Had I arrived a few years later, after Setsuna told of of something that will happen to her when she goes to Mahora academy, you might believe me."

"What makes you think she'll go to that place?" Tsuruko asked, as she watched Tomoko dodge the attack by leaping off to the side and then Tomoko returned her own version. Tsuruko dodged it by jumping up in the air.

"She does because her friend Konoka Konoe will go there. Even if you forbid her, she'll still go," Tomoko answered, as she dashed towards Tsuruko as the latter landed. Tomoko tried to attack with a simple strike from the side, but Tsuruko blocked it.

"I believe I've seen enough. Tell me who you really are," Tsruko ordered. Tomoko then stopped trying to attack and put her bokken at her side.

"Very well. I had hoped I would have had more time, but the way I came here wasn't very precise and it was only one way," Tomoko said, as she walked away from Tsuruko to look at the Hinata. Tsuruko felt Tomoko lower down her own spiritual defenses, making any ki attack against Tomoko have a high chance of being a fatal one. After a few moments, she faced Tsuruko with a sad smile and said seven words.

Tsuruko then tapped the side of her head in some odd way of cleaning out her ears and said, "Could you repeat that? I thought you said something insane."

Tomoko then repeated, "I am Motoko Aoyama from the future."

After a few more moments, Tsuruko angrily asked, "Do you know how insane that sounds to me, how much of a lie that sounds?"

"I admit, it does sound like an insane lie, but in the original timeline, You came here to bring me back to the Shinmei-Ryu, I then panicked and claimed that Mr. Urashima was my fiance. That lie was more believable, however," Tomoko answered.

"That does sound like something that Motoko would do, but I do not believe that you are her from the future," Tsuruko replied.

"I lowered down my defenses. If I am lying, then even a novice would be able to detect if anything I say is a falsehood," Tomoko said.

A minute or two passed as Tsuruko studied Tomoko.

"Let's say I believe you. Why did you come back to this time?" Tsuruko asked.

"Actually, I tried to come back to an earlier time, when Mr. Urashima first came to the Hinata. I came here roughly about two months ago. I wish had had come back earlier, to avoid a big mistake that I had made, But Su's time portal machine isn't very accurate," Tomoko answered with some anger in her voice.

"And what might that be?" Tsuruko asked, as her anger started to fade a bit when she didn't see any signs of lying. She still was wary of Tomoko.

"My past self joined the other girls in prosecuting Mr. Urashima when we all thought that he slept with Ms. Otohime. We were wrong. She sleepwalked and fell into his room," Tomoko said, as long buried guilt appeared on her face.

"So why didn't you come earlier, when you had the chance?" Tsuruko asked.

"I needed to build up some money, in case I decided to talk Mr. Urashima into leaving the Hinata with me or to gain his trust if a situation arose where he needed a lot of money fast," Tomoko answered.

A few moments passed.

"If you really are Motoko's future self-"Tsuruko said, before Tomoko raised her hand to silence her.

"Future self from a no longer viable timeline. In my timeline, no one named Tomoko Aoyama ever appeared," Tomoko said. Tsuruko grew a bit angry when she heard that.

"As I was saying, If you are Motoko's future self, then tell me something that she and I only know," Tsuruko ordered.

Tomoko's sad smile gained a wicked gleam as she pulled out a folded sheet of paper and tossed it at Tsuruko. Tsuruko grabbed it and opened it up to read it. Tomoko grinned as Tsuruko's faced turned red from embarrassment.

"Is that proof enough?" Tomoko asked as she watched Tsuruko tear the sheet to shreds before tossing the shreds into the air to burn them with the Thunderclap Sword technique.

"Since Motoko would never reveal that to anyone, I'll believe who you claim to be," Tsuruko replied before fixing Tomoko with a glare. "But if you are my sister and are from the future, you are extremely selfish."

"Selfish? You don't even know why I came in the first place!" Tomoko loudly said back.

"Then enlighten me, since you didn't tell me why when I asked," Tsuruko said.

"I came back in time to prevent Urashima's death!" Tomoko yelled.

"Does your timeline still exist or has it been over written?" Tsuruko asked, crossing her arms. Tomoko thought about it for a second or two.

"Since I still exist, I assume it exists, but I cannot return to it," Tomoko answered.

"Then since you cannot return and you stated that the accuracy of the time portal machine isn't very accurate, then everyone you left will be mourning two people instead of one," Tsuruko replied.

"They... They will not be mourning me, only Urashima!" Tomoko loudly declared.

"How will they know you've gotten to this time period? Can you communicate with them?" Tsuruko asked.

"No..." Tomoko growled.

"Then they might as well be mourning you. They have no idea you might still be alive," Tsuruko said.

"You know nothing! If Person A does not contact Person B, should Person B assume that Person A is dead?" Tomoko yelled.

"But as you said, The Timeline you came from is not this timeline's future. If they send anyone else back, they will go to a different timeline, one that you are not in," Tsuruko explained. "As far as they know, you are possibly alive, but they have no way of making sure."

Tomoko felt a cold chill go down her spine as her anger vanished.

"Surely you must have realized this during the two months you spent getting money for emergencies..." Tsuruko said, as she uncrossed her arms and began walking around Tomoko.

"I... I didn't..." Tomoko quietly muttered.

Tsuruko sighed. The desperation on Tomoko's face and the fact that Tomoko's aura was giving signs that she was honest, finally let Tsuruko know that Tomoko was Motoko from the future.

"On one hand, it is heartening to know that you made a choice and followed though with it. On the other hand, I am disappointed that you didn't consider the effects of your choice and how it would effect others," Tsuruko said, hugging Tomoko from behind.

"...Thanks, I guess..." Tomoko whispered.

"So how did he die?" Tsuruko asked. Tomoko looked at the ground.

"We all thought he was immortal, that he could take any attack without lasting harm. He volunteered to help with the Shinmei-Ryu by being an assistant whenever he could. He helped Su with her inventions. We all should have know that no one can take that abuse for a long time without repercussions..." Tomoko quietly explained as shame, anger, and sorrow showed on her face. She then spat with hate in her voice, "Especially Narusagawa..."

"What did she do to gain such hate from you?" Tsuruko asked, as she let Tomoko go.

"She married him. Any time she felt he stared too long at someone, she hit him. Any time she felt under-appreciated, she hit him. Any time she felt that he was making her look bad by treating her to anything, she hit him. The rest of us should have know his warm smile was turning fake and hollow. Eventually, She hit him because she wasn't sure if she wanted kids or not and all he said was that he would support her in any decision that she made about it. The years of getting hit by everyone sapped his will to live and that hit... wound up... killing him," Tomoko said, as she started crying near the end.

Tsuruko hugged her again. Tomoko quickly turned around and hugged Tsuruko back.

"I understand. If anyone could turn back the clock to save a loved one, not many would pass up the offer..." Tsuruko muttered, as she waited for Tomoko to finish crying and calm down.

-oOo-

When Tomoko finally stopped crying, she let go of Tsuruko.

"So what do you plan on doing, now that I know your read identity?" Tsuruko asked.

"I plan on helping and supporting Mr. Urashima, and possibly set him up with my past self," Tomoko answered.

"Are you sure?" Tsuruko asked.

"Yes, that is my plan. Is something wrong with it?" Tomoko asked back, with annoyance in her tone.

"Are you sure that you won't try to win Urashima for yourself? As in the you-you, not for your past self?" Tsuruko asked, tilting her head a little. She smiled a bit when Tomoko looked away with a blush.

"Don't be absurd! I don't deserve him!" Tomoko said through gritted teeth.

"He might think otherwise, if you support him when no one else is helping him," Tsuruko asked.

"I just have to change my past self's view point enough to have her seek redemption for what's she's done so far," Tomoko answered as she leapt down to the ally below. Tsuruko followed after her.

"Is it related to her despondent state?" Tsuruko asked.

"All I did was point out a few things she's done towards Mr. Urashima and threaten to tell you and the everyone else at the Shinmei-Ryu about them," Tomoko answered as she and Tsuruko walked out of the alley and began to head back to the Hinata.

"I'm interested about that and what happened in your timeline. Care to tell me?" Tsuruko replied.

"Only if we can come up with a plan to help my past self get together with Mr. Urashima," Tomoko said.

-oOoOoOo-

Author's note-And the Tomoko is future Motoko theory that's been talked about since the second review is proven true.

I think these fics provided quite a bit of inspiration, so I'll put them up, both for a suggestion to you to read and to thank the writers for inspiring me.

'A Second Chance for Love' by The Wonk

'First Love, Second Chance' by Vermilion-ZERO

'The Time Traveler' by Guyver04

And now the part that everyone dreads. This fic is going on hiatus, but only for about two months or so. I need that time to plan and to make an outline for future chapters. The Ah my Goddess what if fic will continue, but that's because it requires a lot less planning than this fic.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.  
-oOoOoOo-

"...And then you came into the room, " Tomoko said, as she and Tsuruko neared the stairway of the Hinata.

To Tomoko's surprise, Tsuruko didn't appear to be angry at any moment of the tale. She frowned a little bit at some parts and looked a bit sad at others, but didn't interrupt at all. Then Tsuruko spoke.

"Sister, have you heard of a term called, 'Necessary fail'?" Tsuruko asked.

"Not to my knowledge..." Tomoko answered, feeling the all too familiar feeling that she failed somehow in Tsuruko's eyes.

"Here's an example. In your timeline, you and Urashima lost against me. After getting depressed for a bit, you got back up and fought against me. While miss. Narusagawa interrupted our match by getting possessed by the Hina blade, you did impress me enough to succeed," Tsuruko explained. "In this timeline, You prevented that from happening and also prevented this timeline's Motoko from growing from that experience."

Tomoko stopped in place, causing Tsuruko to look back at her.

"I... I... I... did not realize that..." Tomoko muttered as the thought of that in her quest to help her past self grow into a better person, She may have undone some valuable growth. She grabbed her head as she shouted, "I thought I outgrew not thinking things through!"

Tsuruko sighed as she thought, 'That's my sister alright...'

"While I could stand here and point out where you went wrong by preventing a lot of other events, we have something a tad more important to accomplish," Tsuruko replied.

"What could that be? What could be more important than recognizing that I failed as soon as I began my task?" Tomoko cried out, nearly panicking.

Tomoko's stomach then growled.

"It is dinnertime and I think that Miss Maehara may have set aside some of the food that she made. Let us go and feed ourselves," Tsuruko said, as she began walking up the stairs.

"...Right... Better to not think on an empty stomach..." Tomoko muttered as she followed Tsuruko.

-oOo-

When the two Aoyamas got up the stairs, Keitaro was waiting by the front door.

"Shinobu saved your portion, Tomoko, and she set some aside for you, Miss Tsuruko," Keitaro said.

"Thank you for telling us that, Mr. Urashima. I'll be sure to thank her later," Tsuruko replied. "I've been meaning to ask. How did you break your leg? Is my sister responsible?"

"No, she isn't in any way. The thing responsible was a a roof ornament that looked like a large peach fell and broke my leg," Keitaro said.

"Well, at least the tenants are helping you while you are recovering, right?" Tsuruko said.

Keitaro didn't answer and Tsuruko saw through the corner of her eye that Tomoko looking surprised, guilty, and also mouthing the words, "Oh shit..."

When Keitaro did answer, it was with a half-hearted, "They are often busy... But Tomoko at least offered to help..."

"Did they at least helped you up the stairs?" Tsuruko asked, as traces of disappointment were starting to appear in her voice. 'Motoko, I thought you were raised better than that...'

"...They were busy at that time as well..." Keitaro muttered, not wanting to answer, but also not wanting to seem rude.

"Did anyone meet you when you came out of the hospital?" Tsuruko asked, with a slightly exasperated tone.

"...Only Tama..." Keitaro said. He then opened the door and said in a depressed tone, "I... I need some time to be by myself..."

After Keitaro closed the door and left, Tomoko faced Tsuruko and began frantically saying, " Sister! I thought I did come out to greet him at that time!"

"We're at the Hinata, so be quiet about that," Tsuruko ordered. Tomoko nodded, while Tsuruko continued, "As much as I'm disappointed in Motoko, I'm also disappointed in Haruka. Whenever we met while she and Seta were traveling, she spoke a lot about friends and family and how it was all important to her. Hearing what Urashima said makes me think that all it was to Haraka was just that, a bunch of talk to make herself feel good."

"Tsuruko, we're not here to discuss Haruka and how her actions and words differ. Let us eat first and then handle Motoko's situation," Tomoko said, as she opened the door for Tsuruko.

"Yes... It would be better to fill our bellies..." Tsuruko said, as she and Tomoko entered the Hinata.

-oOo-

While the two ate, Everyone else either was in their rooms or was watching TV in the living room. Tomoko and Tsuruko used the time to plan something.

After they were done eating, the two went to Motoko's room.

"Motoko, we have things to discuss..." Tomoko said, as she opened Motoko's bedroom door. She saw Motoko had been trying to meditate.

"Yes, it concerns if you should be allowed to stay at the Hinata. Shall we speak here or somewhere else? It's going to be a private matter," Tsuruko said, noting that Motoko looked like she had been waiting for this to happen, but also like she wanted to run away.

"... My room is good..." Motoko said, after taking a breath to try to calm down.

"What about eavesdroppers?" Tomoko asked.

"... Then... Then... Perhaps the storage rooms under the Hinata? They're fairly quiet," Motoko answered, looking a bit embarrassed as she remembered all the times that she eavesdropped on someone else when they were in their rooms, usually because of Kitsune or Su dragged her to listen. Though there was always a few times where she did it voluntarily.

The Aoyama trio then headed to the storage rooms. After finding a room where there was a few boxes that could be sat on, the trio entered.

"Sister, your cousin let me know of a few things that had happened here," Tsurko said, looking... disappointed? Annoyed? Motoko wasn't too sure. "Why have you attacked your landlord so many times for imagined slights and genuine accidents?"

"He doesn't belong here," Motoko stated, calming down a bit after finding some relief in something she thought she knew the answer to.

"Sister... You know as well as I do that by blood and by our nation's laws, he has more of a right to be here than you do," Tsuruko replied. "I thought you would have grown a bit and would be able to get past your hatred of men. It seems that Hina Urashima has failed in her promise to help you..."

"No, she hasn't failed! She helped by giving us a sanctuary from males! The only thing that went wrong was that he came here!" Motoko loudly stated.

"But from what I learned, Hina Urashima was the one that made him your landlord. So she did fail, either by not helping you get past your hatred of men or by 'ruining' your precious man-free sanctuary by giving Urashima reason to stay," Tsuruko said. "And please keep your voice down."

"I apologize, but I was simply stating-" Motoko said, before Tomoko pulled out a bokken out of nowhere and held it near Motoko's throat.

"If you were going to say 'I was simply stating the truth'... You weren't; an opinion is not the same thing as truth. There is a difference. Keep that in mind," Tomoko quietly said, as she glared at Motoko.

"Tomoko..." Tsuruko said, as she crossed her arms.

"What I did was nothing compared to what she has done to Mr. Urashima," Tomoko said, as she put her bokken away.

"If you keep that up, I will drag you both back to the Shinmei-Ryu compound and have you both punished. So behave, the both of you!" Tsuruko ordered.

"Very well, I will," Motoko and Tomoko said at the same time, sounding a little ashamed of how they acted.

Tsuruko held back a smile as she thought, 'That was rather amusing. The difference in age does little to hide how cute Motoko sounds when she is ashamed.'

"Motoko? Do you know why I came here?" Tsuruko asked.

Motoko gulped a little before asking, "You're not here to bring me back, are you?"

"That was what I had planned. To bring you back, so that you could receive the dojo," Tsuruko said, as she uncrossed her arms.

Motoko let out a little whimper of fear.

'It's over now... My sister is not one you cloud argue with... But perhaps Urashima could help me...' Motoko thought.

"But your cousin has managed to talk me into considering letting you stay, but with some conditions attached," Tsuruko said.

Motoko was surprised at that, she was convinced that nothing could change her sister's mind, especially when it came to tradition.

"So it's your choice. Either come back with me to the Shinmei-Ryu or stay, but follow what Tomoko tells you to do, even if it is something you disagree with at the time," Tsuruko said.

Motoko looked at Tomoko, trying to discover Tomoko's reason for helping her. Tomoko's face seemed annoyed at Motoko, but there was a glimmer in her eyes that seemed to say, 'I know you can do better.'

"Before I make a decision, may I ask Tomoko what she is getting out of this?" Motoko asked.

"Tomoko?" Tsuruko asked, finding a bit of amusement out of the situation.

"The Hinata is a rather nice place to live at for a while and I don't want to head back to the compound so soon. This would also allow me to spend some time with my cousin," Tomoko answered.

"I... find that a little hard to believe..." Motoko muttered.

"I see a bit of myself in you and don't want you making the same angry mistakes that I did. So I will be trying me best to help you," Tomoko said. She then gained a bit of an evil grin. "Tell me... When was the last time you and Tsuruko went shopping for clothes?"

"I can't really remember..." Motoko muttered, as she slowly faced Tsuruko.

"Oh, that sounds like fun! Perhaps we'll find some cute clothes for you that will have Urashima falling head-over-heels for you, sister!" Tsuruko said, clasping her hands in joy.

Motoko looked horrified, while Tomoko's grin turned into a smirk.

"Oh, don't look so shocked, cousin. You needed both a reason to loosen up and to spend some time with Tsuruko," Tomoko said.

"But it will be humiliating!" Motoko cried out. Then she noticed the sudden look of depression on Tsuruko's face.

"I do not think it would be humiliating... Then again... All I wanted to do was to spend some time with my sister..." Tsuruko softly said.

If this was a scene in a comic, an arrow would have been partially made out o Tsuruko's word balloon and hit Motoko in the chest or back

"Sister... It's just... the last time I went shopping for clothes with someone, they used it to humiliate me... I was worried that you might have been planning on doing the same..." Motoko explained. "But I'll be free to go with you the day after tomorrow."

""That would be great, sister..." Tsuruko said, cheering up a bit. 'Besides, I have better ways to humiliate you for my amusement than using you as a dressup doll. Though that does sound like fun...'

When Motoko seemed to cheer up as well, Tsuruko said."But should you hit Urashima at all before we go out, I might be very tempted to have you dress in a few specific outfits as a punishment."

"What if something happens, like Urashima in a compromising position with someone?" Motoko asked.

Before Tsuruko could say something, Tomoko said, "Oh yeah, I never did find out if Mr. Urashima prefers a woman's breasts or her behind!"

Then Tsuruko said something that made Motoko pass out from shock.

"Oh, do you want me to ask or shall we have Motoko find out?"

-oOo-

The two carried the unconscious Motoko out of the storage room and into her room.

"A bit too far?" Tsuruko asked, as Motoko was placed on her futon.

"Perhaps. It hasn't been a good day to her so far," Tomoko answered, as she took out a blanket to cover Motoko. "Shall we stay until she wakes or leave and let her rest?"

"Let's leave her be for now," Tsuruko replied. The two then left Motoko's room.

Kitsune was waiting at the side of Motoko's door.

"I wanna talk to Tsuruko for a little bit alone, Tomoko, " Kitsune said.,

Tomoko frowned and was about to say something, but Tsuruko held up her hand to stop her.

"It's alright, Tomoko. Go on ahead," Tsuruko said. Tomoko nodded before leaving.

"So what did you do to knock her out?" Kitsune asked, a bit concerned for her fellow tenant.

"Merely told her that in a day or two that she'll be spending some time with me, since it's been awhile," Tsuruko said.

"And that was what knocked her out? Not some fancy stealth attack?" Kitsune asked.

"She was very surprised at what I suggested," Tsuruko said. Before Kitsune could say anything, Tsuruko said, "Merely shopping together as sisters; which means you are not invited."

"Feh, not like I wanted to come. All you'll probably get is more of the same clothing," Kitsune muttered as she started to walk away. "Oh, Tsuruko? Please tell your cousin to back off of Keitaro."

"Why should I? She has a good head on her shoulders and probably does have a good reason for her actions," Tsuruko replied. Kitsune stopped in place.

"She's meddling with people that she shouldn't," Kitsune said. She didn't like the grin that appeared on Tomoko's face.

"From what I've been told, you've meddled with him far more than I ever could and at least Tomoko is doing it with the intention of helping him and everyone here if she can," Tomoko said.

"So what? He's always gotten up, and if it really bothered him, he'd tell us to stop," Kitsune replied, not wanting to back down.

"Huh... Ah! I know what is really bothering you. He stood up to you or refused something that you wanted him to do. And going by what my sister has told me, you're worried that you might get kicked out for not being able to pay for the rent," Tsuruko said. Kitsune's glare was all that Tsuruko needed to see to know that she had scored a victory.

Kitsune walked away and turned a corner.

Tsuruko then went down to Tomoko's room to chat some more with Tomoko. Unknown to Tsuruko, Kitsune had managed to quickly hide herself in a hidden entrance of a tunnel to avoid the Aoyama. After waiting a few minutes to make sure that she were gone, Kitsune got out of the tunnel and went to Motoko's room.

"Motoko? You awake yet?" Kitsune said as she knocked a little. After a little bit of hearing to reply, Kitsune opened the door a little. Seeing that Motoko was still asleep, Kitsune snuck in and walked over to her.

Grabbing a nearby staff, Kitsune walked far enough away so that the staff could barely poke Motoko.

"Time to wake up, Sleepyhead," Kitsune cheerfully said, as she poked Motoko a few times.

"Ergh-uhhh..." Motoko muttered as she began waking up. "I dream that Tsuruko said something horrid..."

"Like what?" Kitsune asked, as she continued to poke Motoko.

"Stop that!" Motoko said, grabbing the staff and pulling it away from Kitsune. An angry glare was on Motoko's face.

"You're no fun," Kitsune said with a pout. "So what did your sister say?"

"...Forget it. What are you here for?" Motoko asked, as not many people liked getting poked with a stick while they were waking up.

"Just came to talk with you," Kitsune answered. "And maybe get you to convince your sister to get Tomoko to leave here."

Kitsune worried a bit when Motoko's glare turned a bit sad.

"My sister came here for a purpose. Do you know what she came here for?" Motoko asked. When Kitsune shook her head, Motoko said, "My sister came here to take me back to the Shinmei-Ryu compound, so that I could take it over."

"So tell her you're not ready," Kitsune replied.

"That isn't an option when Tsuruko has her mind set on something. The only way out is if I was engaged with someone," Motoko said. Motoko was a bit surprised when Kitsune seemed both surprised and angry. "What?"

"You were planning on telling her that you and Keitaro were an item, weren't you?" Kitsune spat out.

"Only as long as she was here..." Motoko said.

"Just as long as it doesn't bother Naru..." Kitsune quietly grumbled.

"What was that?" Motoko asked.

"Nothing..." Kitsune answered. She gained a bit of a naughty grin as she said,"Anyways... Your sister and cousin are in the latter's room... Aren't you curious about what they might be talking about?"

"...Maybe a little bit..." Motoko muttered. "But what would I do if I got caught?"

"Out of all of us, you have the best excuse to cover up your actions. You can claim that you wanted to spend some more time with your sister, but didn't want to intrude on their conversation," Kitsune said.

-oOo-

It took a bit more convincing, but Kitsune managed to get Motoko to go and listen in on Tomoko's and Tsuruko's conversation.

At the same time, Su was checking over a few things in her lab, when she discovered that her Tamabots that had been sent to protect Motoko from Tomoko had kept on eye on the latter.

On a whim, she decided to watch what they recorded.

-oOoOoOo-

Author's note - I thank Solaris of Thefanfictionforum for the bit where Tomoko panicked and Tsuruko's thought about it.

In fact, I thank everyone over at Thefanfictionforum for being a big help, especially, PCHeintz72, IonDragonX, chronodekar, EagleCeres and everyone else that helped me in even the smallest ways.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.  
-oOoOoOo-

Mutsumi was laying in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She thought back to during the latter part of dinner.

_After Keitaro declared that they weren't going to vote on the matter if Tomoko could stay or not, Naru angrily asked why not. Keitaro replied that he was the landlord and that it was his decision if there ever was going to be a vote. Naru had grown a bit more angry at that and claimed that Granny Hina would have let them vote. Kitsune has chimed in to support Naru._

_Keitaro's response was a simple one. He wasn't Granny Hina and he was going to do things his own way. Before Naru could respond, Keitaro told her that if she wanted to continue, then they would do so, but not during dinner. Naru had growled for a little bit before declaring that she was going to go off on a discussion group for a few days and she didn't want anyone following her. Keitaro's response was a short one. He wished her luck and hoped that she would have a good time. _

_Naru had quickly said that she would and it would be thanks to not having him around. Anyone that was paying attention to Keitaro's and Naru's eyes would have noticed a bit of sorrow in their eyes. Whether it was from what the other person had said or from what they said, it was hard to tell._

_In any case, the meal was relatively quiet. Shinobu had put a cover on Tomoko's food to keep it warm and had also saved some of the extra for Tsuruko._

After sighing for a little bit, Mutsumi muttered, "Things were peaceful a few days ago..."

And with Tsuruko now at the Hinata, the turtle girl almost believed that it was almost going to get worse.

"Myuh!" A friendly voice called out.

"Tama!" Mutsumi cheered as she looked over to her open window.

"Myuh!" Tama replied as he flew in.

"Yes, Naru told Kei-chan about her discussion group, but I wish it had been through a better way..." Mutsumi explained.

"Myuh..." Tama muttered, seemingly a bit depressed.

"Yes, I also wish she would rein in her temper a little bit more, but hopefully everything will work out once they are together..." Mutsumi said.

Tama's response was "MyuhMyuh?"

"No, I made the choice long ago that they would be happier together and I will not go back on that," Mutsumi replied, with some annoyance in her voice.

"Myuh..." Tama asked. Tama's eyes seemed to be slightly pleading.

"Yes, I am sure..." Mutsumi answered, though the Hot springs turtle was able to detect some regret and longing in Mutsumi's voice.

"Myuh Myuh..." Tama replied, as he flew over to his bed in Mutsumi's room. Tama's tone seemed to be of the opinion that Mutsumi was in denial about Keitaro and Naru, no matter what she said.

Not liking how Tama was acting, Mutsumi got out of bed and began to head out of her room, though one of the secret entrances leading to the Hinata.

"Myuh?" Tama asked.

"I'm going to wander around for a little bit, as mother told me to never go to bed angry," Mutsumi replied, before crawling out of view.

"Myuh..." Tama muttered, shaking his head before going to sleep.

Little did Mutsumi know, Naru was also crawling around the tunnels, but it was to pass the time until she felt sleepy, unknowingly keeping Shinobu awake and scaring her into thinking there was a ghost who kept muttering and claiming that they weren't the guilty ones.

-oOo-

As Su was watching the video of Tsuruko and Tomoko leaving the Hinata's grounds on the large computer screen, she thought she heard the faint footsteps of an intruder. A smirk crossed her face as she typed a few commands. On a computer screen that was located on the desk, a small window showed Kitsune had snuck in and was behind her.

_'Can't punish her because she can't take it... Might as well have some fun, since she seems very interested in what's on the big screen...'_ Su thought, as she slipped on a pair of headphones. She pressed a button, which activated a mostly unused program, one made purely for fun.

-oOo-

Motoko was doing her best to stay quiet as she neared Tomoko's room. Not a moment passed by where Motoko prayed that neither Tama nor Keitaro would pop up to frighten her. She also was praying that she would not be detected by her sister or cousin. She had no idea of the latter's ability to detect her, but the former seemed to have an inhuman ability to detect her at times.

_'Why I let Kitsune convince me to do this, I'll never know...' _Motoko thought as she reached the corner of the hall where Keitaro's and Tomoko's rooms were. After a few more tense moments, Motoko was within hearing distance of Tomoko and Tsuruko's conversation

The first words that she was able to hear was Tomoko's "...and you and Motoko then should go to this place..."

"And pray tell why?" Tsuruko's voice asked.

_'Yes, why?'_ Motoko thought, wanting to know as well.

"You do need to get a few more pairs of panties. Perhaps Motoko might be useful in helping you?" Tomoko's voice asked

"I can easily do that by myself... Unless you're suggesting I use her by asking which one would bring out the best reaction if I showed them to Urashima. That does sound like fun," Tsuruko's voice answered with a slight giggle.

_'That's right... Sister prefers to wear a fundoshi, instead of panties... I suppose it is a good thing that Urashima is asleep... Otherwise, he would pass out at the idea of some woman not wearing panties...' _Motoko thought.

"Perhaps... Do you think that Motoko might benefit from some advice from how to win Mr. Urashima's heart?" Tomoko's voice asked.

"Maybe... but From what I've heard, she detests him..." Tsuruko's voice answered.

"Ah, but from what I've seen, she is in love with him, but the fact he is in love with another..." Tomoko's voice replied.

Motoko fought the urge to rush into the room and deny Tomoko's accusation.

"Ah... So she reacts by trying her best to hate him..." Tsuruko's voice commented.

"Yes... I find it sad and ignorant on Motoko's part..." Tomoko's voice said in a bit of a sad tone.

"But my brief meeting with Kitsune had her a bit angry at you. Care to explain?" Tsuruko's voice asked, in a way that seemed like she knew the answer.

"I let Mr. Urashima know that I was in his corner and apparently, it's giving him a bit of a backbone. It seems that everyone here is supporting Ms. Narusagawa, though she is acting like a little girl who believes that boys have cooties," Tomoko's voice muttered with a sigh. "Though even the littlest of children know better than to punch anything that even slightly annoys them..."

"Even Motoko? So she likes him, but holds back because of Narusagawa?" Tsuruko's voice acked with surprise in her voice.

"Miss Narusagawa is her friend and the two knew each other longer than they knew of Mr. Urashima," Tomoko's voice replied.

"Ah... So you want me to try to get Motoko to follow her heart and risk destroying a friendship?" Tsuruko's voice asked, almost accusingly.

"From what I've heard from Tama, Mr. Urashima and Ms. Narusagawa have known each other for about two years and they've barely progressed. Motoko actually competing would either force Naru to admit her feeling or step out. In either case, it would be helpful for everyone involved and end the matter of 'will they or won't they?' Tomoko's voice said with almost a growl.

Motoko wasn't sure what to feel. A part of her wanted to act like she always does, call Keitaro a pervert and deny any feelings for him, but a small, growing part of her wanted to go with Tomoko's suggestion. Motoko hoped it was a part of her that wanted to help Naru and not a part of her that desired Keitaro. She barely registered the part where Tomoko claimed that she could speak with Tama.

"And should Motoko wind up winning Urashima's heart?" Tsuruko's voice asked in a playful manner.

"Then your sister winds up with a good man and the Aoyamas have a rather nice place for a family reunion," Tomoko's voice replied, in an equally playful tone.

_'Ah! That's it! Tomoko is after property! I can accuse her later and Tsuruko will... will... punish me for eavesdropping...' _ Motoko thought as her shoulders slumped.

"Is this scheme of yours for mere property?" Tsuruko asked in a manner that was less than pleased.

"No, it isn't. If it seemed that way, it was not my intention and I apologize. I was merely thinking that Granduncle Issun and a few others would like Urashima," Tomoko quickly answered.

Tsuruko then pointed out that a large number of their family would dislike Keitaro, either because they were like Motoko; or they would wind up in a accident because of Keitaro's clumsiness. In the hallway, Motoko nodded, believing that either reason that Tsuruko stated was good enough to keep Keitaro away from the Aoyama family.

Then Tomoko suggested something that almost made Motoko storm in and demand that they never suggest something like that ever again. Then Motoko heard Tsuruko clap her hands together and say that having Motoko both train Keitaro to have better balance and to also get him to be more confident was a wonderful idea.

That made Motoko shake with rage. In her mind, she declared that she would never teach Keitaro anything and that if she was forced to, she would sabotage the whole thing, even if Tsuruko was the one to order her in the first place!

After nodding to herself as if she had the last word, Motoko then began to sneak back to her room.

-oOo-

In Tomoko's room, Tsuruko and Tomoko were looking at the door.

"It was a good thing you were able to detect her. I couldn't tell your aura from hers," Tsuruko said.

"So can you speak with Tama?" Tsuruko asked.

"Somewhat... I can understand a few simple words, but not much..." Tomoko sheepishly replied as she looked away. "But I suspect that Tama would side with Mutsumi..."

The pause made Tsuruko curious. So she asked, "What about Mutsumi?"

"I remember her being a bit of a saint around this time... So I was surprised when she glared at me and tried to defend Naru's actions," Tomoko replied in a bit of a regretful tone.

"So you thought that she might help you... But from what you've told me, she seems a bit fanatical about getting Narusagawa and Urashima together..." Tsuruko said as she reached over and grabbed one of Tomoko's shoulders in some attempt to comfort her.

The gesture did not go unnoticed, as after awhile, Tomoko said, "...Thanks..."

"You are my sister, after all... Though, I'm not sure if I should consider you still to be my younger sister or my new older sister..." Tsuruko replied with a playful smirk.

"You're incorrigible..." Tomoko muttered.

Deciding to change the topic to a happier one, Tsuruko said, "So what parts of what you said were true?"

"Just about all of it. At this point of time, I still felt like I was abandoned by you, so try to change that a little bit with my younger self," Tomoko replied. "When you and my younger self leave to spend the day together, I'll try to ask Urashima if he wants to not have as many accidents. If he accepts, and I suspect he will, I'll tell him that he'll be trained by Motoko."

"Won't he be scared enough to refuse your offer?" Tsuruko asked.

"Perhaps, but he still considers her a friend. If he refuses or if she fails to help him, then I'll notify you and you can return to take my younger self back for some remedial training. I'll be sure to tell the both of them that little fact," Tomoko answered with a bit of an evil smirk.

"Ah... Two birds with one stone..." Tsuruko commented. "And I assume you'll stay behind here?"

After sighing, Tomoko said, "Yes, but I suspect that everyone here would plan to go 'rescue' Motoko, no matter how much I could point out that she was straying from her code of honor."

"Will you let me know ahead of time?" Tsuruko asked.

"If I can. They might be able to knock me out and tie me up," Tomoko said. "Thank the spirits that Kanako isn't here..."

"Ah... That's the little sister of Urashima, isn't it?" Tsuruko asked. Tomoko nodded and Tsuruko then added, "Perhaps you could let her know of your secret? She might help you if you can get her to be Urashima's mistress, since the laws prevent her from marrying him."

"I doubt my younger self would approve..." Tomoko muttered.

"But how about you? If you went after him, would you ask for Kanako's help in exchange for sharing him with her?" Tsuruko asked, enjoying the shocked look on Tomoko's face.

"I-but-her- en.. Argh!" Tomoko sputtered "You really are incorrigible!"

Tsuruko merely giggled a little bit in response.

-oOo-

Kitsune was shocked at what she had heard never in a million years would she even had guessed that Tomoko was from the future.

And not only that, but also Tsuruko's illegitimate child! No wonder she was a bit overprotective of Keitaro. He probably was the one who she had a crush on when she was a kid!

_'That would explain why her actions seem to drive a wedge in Kei's relationship with Naru. She wants him for herself! But why go and tell Tsuruko that she would have a illegitimate child? Something like that would make Tsuruko go and stop that... Unless Tomoko is trying to put Tsuruko and Keitaro together because he is her daddy! But then why would she go and put some moves on him when she came her? Then again, I did spot Motoko staring at some hentai. She only destroyed them when she noticed me looking at her, so maybe the Aoyamas are the type to denounce perverted thing in public, but have a very strong desire for them deep down inside?' _Kitsune thought. _'Or maybe she doesn't consider him to be her dad yet?'_

"Kitsune! Whatcha doing here? You wanna help me test some inventions?" Su asked.

"N-No! Just wanted to... To... See you before I go to bed!" Kitsune quickly answered.

"Oh... Well, it was nice seeing you..." Su said, before turning her chair back around to look at her computer.

Kitsune was a bit curious. Normally, Su would keep on asking if anyone wanted to help try out a new invention. So her stopping without being bribed was both a relief and a surprised.

"Is everything alright, Su?" Kitsune asked, slowly walking towards the little inventor. No need to set off any traps.

"...Yeah, guess I'm getting sleepy, is all..." Su replied, rubbing her eyes for effect.

"So who are you gonna sleep with tonight? I can walk with you or carry you to them," Kitsune asked.

"Nah... I'm a big girl and wanna try sleeping on my own," Su answered, as she was turning off her computers.

"Seriously?" Kitsune asked, tilting her head a bit in curiosity.

"Yup! And if you keep bugging me, I'm gonna assume you wanna be the test subject for one of my untested inventions..." Su muttered, with a slightly unhinged grin.

"Uhmmmm... I gotta go! Feeling pret-ty tired!" Kitsune quickly said, even yawning for emphasis.

Su watched as Kitsune left. After turning on a computer and then setting up her room for privacy, Su then laid in one of her hammocks and cried herself to sleep, over what her future self had a hand in.

-oOo-

Neither Kitsune nor Su's security systems caught the hidden spy in the Hinata tunnels who also watched the video. Unlike Kitsune. The spy had noticed that the video seemed a bit off and also seemed to avoid talking about Keitaro's fate after a certain point, as if he disappeared... or worse...

The spy continued to crawl around the tunnels.


End file.
